Grant deliberates over final line-up

LONDON, England -- Chelsea manager Avram Grant faces a difficult decision when he decides which of his big names to omit from the starting line-up for Sunday's English League Cup final against Tottenham at Wembley.

He left out captain John Terry and fellow England international Frank Lampard for Tuesday's Champions League draw at Olympiakos and the pair must wait to hear if they will start in the final

Lampard may well be in the line-up but Terry, only just back from an ankle injury, may be kept out by his impressive replacement, Brazil center-back Alex.

Grant said: "I am the boss and the boss needs to see what is good for the club. I don't think players are computers, you need to respect them but I have to take a decision that is good for the club; long and short term.

"Frank and John were injured but I don't intend to punish any player that wants to play.

"Rewarding players is not the main thing but I am thinking about that. It is not an easy decision.

"John is a great captain even when he is not playing. He is also a great defender but it is not an easy decision because Alex and Ricardo Carvalho were very good.

"John, before his injury, was excellent and in training is very good, so it is a very hard decision."

One man whose place looks pretty safe is striker Didier Drogba.

He has scored in Chelsea's last three cup final appearances, including a double to win the League Cup final against Arsenal last season.

The appetite of the Ivory Coast striker, who also hit the winner in the FA Cup final against Manchester United, is as sharp as ever.

"I want to score in the final again. I have scored in all the finals Chelsea have played so far," Drogba said. "I am a big game player."

Drogba could play alongside Nicolas Anelka in a partnership that cost Chelsea a combined £39 million ($76.6 million), but Tottenham will oppose them with an equally daunting strike-force.

Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane have scored 36 goals between them this season and Tottenham's hopes of winning their first silverware since 1999 rest heavily on the two forwards.

New Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate declared: "At the moment I don't think there is a better striking partnership in England than Keane and Berbatov .No pair score more goals than them.

"Any defense that comes up against them is going to have their hands full, including Chelsea. They just click and it's because they are both top players.

Juande Ramos's team have won only two of their last 42 meetings with Chelsea. and the Spaniard said: "We know Chelsea are a good team and probably go into the final as favorites because they are higher up in the league table than us.

"But anything can happen in football and we need to play with the maximum level of concentration." E-mail to a friend