Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager, believes Didier Drogba will not be back to his best until mid-November. The Ivory Coast striker is set to make only his third start of the season in tonight's Champions League clash with CFR Cluj after suffering a knee injury, and Scolari has called on fans to be patient with him.

"Didier has not played for two months so it is difficult," Scolari said. "He is not 100 per cent ready. We need more time for Didier but he will grow with every game he plays and eventually reach the same levels as before.

"Tonight we will see Didier better than in the last game. He is doing his job very well but he needs more games and more time but I think he will need eight or ten more games."

Cluj produced a shock 2-1 victory away at Roma on their Champions League debut a fortnight ago and the match promises to be the biggest night in the club's 101-year history.

But unbeaten Chelsea are homing in on a ninth straight away victory that would take them a giant step closer to qualifying for the second round of the Champions League. "We have made a very good start to the season," Scolari said. "Cluj are more confident than before because they beat Roma and they have good players - but we know that if we are to reach the second round we need to win.

"When you win games you have more confidence, you are more strong. If we win we have one foot in the second round. I think it will need ten points to qualify and if we win tomorrow we will have six points. We would just need four more from four games. We want to reach the final and to win the final so it is a very good situation for us."

Scolari was at pains to point out the qualities of a Cluj side packed with South Americans and Portuguese players, many of whom are familiar to him and have a point to prove. "The attention of the world is not on Cluj, it is on Chelsea, but their players want to change that. They want to show the world they are good players and catch the eye of other clubs," he said. "They are in this competition because they have good players, they have something different to other teams in Romania.

"They need respect. We win many games in England now because we respect the opposition team. I have shown my players a DVD about Cluj. If they win against Chelsea it is because they are better. It is not a surprise."