Chelsea have acted promptly to strengthen their backroom staff after Steve Clarke's departure to West Ham United by appointing Ray Wilkins, a former captain, as assistant first-team coach. Wilkins was introduced to the players at training yesterday and will be on the bench when Manchester United, another of his former clubs, visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Wilkins beat off competition from more recent former players, Roberto Di Matteo, the Milton Keynes Dons manager, and Dan Petrescu, the coach of Unirea Urziceni in Romania, to secure the position, with Luiz Felipe Scolari feeling that it was important to have an experienced English assistant.

The 52-year-old met Scolari on Tuesday after the Chelsea manager had been presented with a list of potential candidates by Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, and was offered the job on the spot.

Wilkins, who made 198 appearances for Chelsea from 1973 to 1979 and became the club's youngest captain at 18, acted as assistant to Gianluca Vialli between 1998 and 2000, but his role in his third spell at Stamford Bridge is likely to be different. The former England midfield player is seen as a link-man between Scolari and the players to help the manager to get his messages across, as well as passing on the experience garnered from more than 30 years of working in English football, rather than for his coaching skills. Unlike Avram Grant, his predecessor, Scolari is very much a hands-on manager and it was Clarke's disillusionment over his lack of involvement that led him to leave for Upton Park.

“I was on the pitch a lot more as a coach with Luca,” Wilkins said. “I will probably be helping Felipe more with background work, preparing team talks and DVDs. I will be preparing things on set-pieces and how the opposition play, that sort of thing. Although Felipe's language is improving by the minute, it can be difficult for him to get his message across, so I will be taking on that mantle.”

Wilkins has been out of work since leaving the England Under-21 set-up last season, when Stuart Pearce replaced Peter Taylor as head coach, but he has a raft of experience to call upon. His managerial career began at Queens Park Rangers in 1994 and he had a one-year spell in charge of Fulham three years later, before working with Vialli at Chelsea and Watford and assisting Dennis Wise when Millwall reached the FA Cup Final four years ago. John Terry and Carlo Cudicini are the only survivors from his previous spell at the club, but Wilkins is looking forward to working with all of the players, particularly Deco.

“Watching Deco has been the highlight of the season for me,” he said. “With his passing, creativity and artistry, some of his play is [Gianfranco] Zola-esque. They're all playing with a freedom, but have been solid at the back defensively, which is impressive.

“I've been looking to get back into coaching for a long time, but unfortunately haven't been able to get through a door. Football now is almost like a closed shop, so anybody who's out of the game is finding it nearly impossible to get back in, me included. I'm absolutely delighted.”

Michael Essien underwent surgery in France yesterday to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. The 25-year-old suffered the injury during Ghana's World Cup qualifying match against Libya two weeks ago and is expected to be out for at least six months. Scolari hopes to sign Mineiro, the 33-year-old Brazil midfield player who has been released by Hertha Berlin, as a temporary replacement.