Andriy Shevchenko’s traumatic two-year stay at Chelsea reached its nadir last night when he missed a penalty that condemned his side to another defeat in the Russian capital after hearing his manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, indicate that he has little future at the club. A 5-4 penalty shootout defeat by Lokomotiv Moscow does not carry the significance of their epic loss to Manchester United in the Champions League final ten weeks ago, but that is unlikely to improve Shevchenko’s mood.

The Ukraine striker had already endured a miserable day, with Carlo Ancelotti ruling out his return to AC Milan and claiming that the player has psychological problems, before his humiliation at the penalty spot. Wayne Bridge had missed a spot-kick that would have given Chelsea victory after the 1-1 draw, but the full back’s error will not be remembered for as long as Shevchenko’s weak effort that went straight at Ivan Pelizzoli, the Lokomotiv goalkeeper.

Scolari took responsibility for the defeat, but his view of Shevchenko does not appear to be encouraging. “One penalty will not change my view of Shevchenko or any player,” he said. “I gave him confidence because I let him take a penalty. If it’s right or wrong, it’s my choice.”

Scolari had revealed earlier in the day that Shevchenko is not even under consideration for Chelsea’s opening Barclays Premier League match against Portsmouth in two weeks. The 31-year-old has endured a torrid time since completing a club-record £30 million move to Chelsea two years ago, scoring only 22 goals in all competitions, and, after making little impact under José Mourinho and Avram Grant, has been frozen out by Scolari. The Brazilian went so far as to bracket Shevchenko along with Franco Di Santo, the 19-year-old Argentine striker, as players on the fringe of his squad, with his plight not helped by a groin injury that has meant that he has spent much of pre-season playing catch-up with his team-mates.

“If it’s possible you may see Shevchenko, but I came here to this tournament to look at my team for the game against Portsmouth and I need to prepare my team for that game,” Scolari said. “I’m not thinking about this tournament as an opportunity to put Shevchenko into the game. If I need to put Shevchenko or Di Santo in the game, I will, but my idea is about Portsmouth.

“I had 75 per cent of my team in mind last week and now it’s maybe 85 per cent because I’ve seen one more game. After these matches I’ll have an idea for my players and for the games in England.” It says much about Shevchenko’s fall that, even with Didier Drogba likely to miss the start of the season as he continues rehabilitation on a knee injury, he cannot force his way into the reckoning. With Milan unwilling to offer him salvation at the San Siro his only options appear to be sitting it out at Stamford Bridge or taking a huge pay cut to move to Major League Soccer.

“We’re thankful to Shevchenko for everything he has done for Milan, but it’s in the past,” Ancelotti said. “I’d say the reason he has struggled is that when he moved to Chelsea it was hard to do, the environment changed.

“If he overcomes these problems, which are mostly psychological and because he moved to a different country, he will achieve a lot at Chelsea.”

The London club are monitoring Robinho’s contract talks with Real Madrid, although Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, is adamant that they will not offer Drogba as part of a package to secure the Brazil winger.

“One of the key issues is them [Real] looking for a replacement. That’s what has been holding up discussions,” Kenyon said. “It has not progressed over the last few days, but the window is open until the end of August.

“There’s absolutely no question that any deal would be done regarding Didier. He is in rehab and is, and will continue to be, a Chelsea player.”