Chelsea boss Avram Grant has defended Didier Drogba against accusations of diving.
Chelsea boss defends striker
Chelsea boss Avram Grant has defended Didier Drogba against accusations of diving.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez claims to have compiled a four-year dossier of Drogba's antics and the striker was again criticised following the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final last week.
However, Grant is angry with the way Drogba is treated by opposition players and insists it is up to referees to take tougher action against defenders trying to foul him.
"I don't think he is a diver at all. He's a good player. He's a powerful player, so the referee needs to look at what happens to him more," said Grant.
"If you look at the video and see what Jamie Carragher did to him in the first game, you will see the referee was very polite.
"Because he looks so powerful, defenders think there are other ways to stop him."
Power
Grant also believes that Benitez is only making such comments to try to influence the officials.
He explained: "I will not speak about the players of Liverpool and what they do. I don't like it when others speak about mine.
"In the first half of the first game, the referee could easily have given a yellow card to Carragher to get him banned for this match.
"It could have been offside for Ryan Babel in the build-up to their goal, even if he was not involved in the goal. I think he (Benitez) is trying to take attention from this.
"Rafa can say whatever he wants to say. I say what I think. Ask him why he's saying that. I think the reason is clear. One way to stop him is to use power more than ever. I think he has tried to affect the referee so he does not do his job."
Not disturbed
Liverpool were able to rest a number of their key players at the weekend while Chelsea had to dig deep to beat Manchester United in a crucial top-of-the-table Premier League clash.
But Grant insists that will not give Liverpool an edge for the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
"First, I'm very glad that we had a game that was important for us and we didn't need to rest players," he said.
"Of course, it's sometimes an advantage, but I don't think it will disturb us when it comes to the game.
"On Saturday we wanted to show that we can play like champions. We wanted to do that. But this is another game, a Champions League semi-final. We want to do it in this game."
