Crouch ready for Chelsea clash

Last updated : 09 April 2008 By Al Campbell
The Reds play the rent boys in the Champions League for the fourth successive season and the third time in four years at the semi-final stage. After a fantastic team performance against Arsenal last night Crouch is eager to face the Stamford Bridge outfit.

"This is a fantastic win but, at the end of the day, it's only the quarter-finals and there are still three more games to go," said the striker.

"When Adebayor scored I was thinking are we going to go out here? I was sitting on the bench and it was a killer blow when Arsenal scored [to make it 2-2 on the night] but we were able to bounce back and we've done it time and time again.

"We made it difficult for ourselves but we showed great character again. Hats off to Arsenal, they are a fantastic side and you know they're going to put you under pressure, but in the first 25 minutes it was difficult to get close to them.

"I think in the second half we really started to close them down and get about them. That's when we showed our true form.

"We have to get over this one first but that's going to be another massive, massive game. We've had the upper hand at times in the semi-finals but, make no mistake, they are a fantastic side as well.

"We don't want to sit back and say we've done well tonight. We've got to go into a massive semi-final.

"All games are tough but those ones against Chelsea are probably going to be even tougher. We'll have to make sure we get ourselves into a lead, maybe in the first leg, but we are capable of going to Chelsea and getting a result, I think."