Chelsea Ladies confident ahead of Wolfsburg Champions League tie

Eni Aluko insists Chelsea have nothing to fear ahead of their UEFA Women’s Champions League Round of 16 tie with European giants VFL Wolfsburg.

Double-winners Chelsea welcome last season's Frauen-Bundesliga runners-up Wolfsburg to Staines Town for Wednesday's first leg, before travelling to the AOK Stadium in Germany seven days later.

German sides have lifted the Women's Champions League a record nine times between them and Wolfsburg have won the competition twice in the last three years, including their 2013 triumph against Lyon at Stamford Bridge.

"It's a tough draw," Aluko told Sky Sports.

"The German teams have always been strong in this competition. Their national team has always been strong and they are born winners but so are we.

"In the Champions League, every team is either a winner of their league or a second place team but there is no reason for us to fear anything and we are going into the game very confident.

"We have a game plan and hopefully we can perform on the day."

The tie will also pit Chelsea Ladies boss Emma Hayes - the only female manager in top-flight English football - against Wolfsburg's Ralf Kellermann, the current FIFA Women's World Coach of the Year.

Hayes' assistant Paul Green admits the tie will be a good measure of Chelsea's overall progress and insists the management team are relishing the tie just as much as the players.

"We are looking forward to it and it will be a really good gauge of where we are in Europe," Green said.

"We are on form, we are confident and we know it will be a difficult game but bring it on.

"They are ranked third in Europe at the moment and they've won the competition twice in the last three years. I am sure they will be aware of some of our threats and we will be fully aware of theirs but we are looking forward to the tie and I'm sure it will be a great game."

Chelsea have kept 16 clean sheets in all competitions this season - compared with five last term - with close-season signing Hedvig Lindahl at the top of her game between the sticks.

And young defender Drew Spence believes the addition of the Sweden No1 has made all the difference this term.

"We leaked a lot of goals last year and that was probably why we lost the title [in 2014]," she said.

"I think Emma [Hayes] has brought in the right people to make us win.

"Hedvig is a great addition to our side and she has brought that experience, not only from club level but also international level. She has been a great addition to our team."

You can watch The Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year Awards right now On Demand