London: Andre Villas-Boas is expected to ask Chelsea captain John Terry to play through the pain against Napoli, but will drop misfiring striker Fernando Torres for the Champions League game on Tuesday.
Terry returned to training last week after three weeks out with a knee injury, but missed Saturday's 1-1 draw with Birmingham in the FA Cup and is rated as extremely doubtful for the game in Italy.
"What we are trying to do with John is to respect his importance for the team," Villas-Boas told reporters. "We will try to give him a late fitness test to give him every chance."
He added: "There are enough characters to lead on the emotional sense. Of course JT is a great leader, gives you an extra emotional push. But at the moment, we’ve had to do without him."
"I think there is still enough emotion without him. If he misses out on Tuesday, then we will miss a top, top player and a player who gives us great defensive stability. It would be a massive loss for us, that’s for sure."
The Portuguese manager is also expected to drop his £50-million striker for the game after substituting him at half-time in the disappointing draw with the Championship club.
Villas-Boas stated that he would not be changing the way his team plays for any one player, and insisted that Torres will have to compete with Didier Drogba and Romelu Lukaku for a place in the team.
"[I won't change the team philosophy] on the way I put things together, not in a team basis. [Torres] is trying hard. This season shows that he's had some ups and downs on performance. We had him at a good level at the beginning of the season and at the beginning of January."
"We will continue to push for that level of performance and get to the top level. That comes with confidence and for Fernando with goals, and he will have to find that eventually, for sure."
"First, Torres, Drogba and Lukaku will compete in training to be in the team. There's competition in the striker positions and it will be a battle between the three of them. Drogba increases the level of competition."
"They are all top, top talents. We need that goal efficiency and we will try and get it one way or another."
"I think everybody is desperate for [Torres] to score. Everybody pushes him, praises him in training and it will come with him getting opportunities. His confidence is low but we will have to continue to persist with our belief in his talent. The belief is the same."
"The only thing that changes is the level of competition for him and maybe that will be the key. More competition will see him push himself that little bit harder and maybe he will eventually reach his goal and targets."
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