Jose Mourinho has claimed he is not as lucky as other managers
due to his lack of defensive options at Chelsea.
During his side's Carling Cup tie with Wycombe Wanderers on
Wednesday, Mourinho was forced to use the makeshift pairing of
Paulo Ferreira and Michael Essien at centre-half.
Ricardo Carvalho was suspended for the semi-final, first leg, while
captain John Terry and Khalid Boulahrouz were both injured.
With no immediate alternatives on the horizon, Mourinho feels even
Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder's injury troubles pale in
comparison.
"I'm not even as lucky as some other people because I don't have in
the reserve team defenders with the quality and ready to play for
my team," said Mourinho.
"You look at other teams - Glenn Roeder had (Paul) Huntington, and
the boy who scored against Manchester United (David Edgar).
"Other teams have an answer. We have no quality defenders and
players ready to play for the first team.
"They are too young or not good enough to play at this level. I
don't even have a second squad to go and pick players."
The Chelsea boss, though, remains confident his players can cope,
as the champions look to reel in Premiership leaders Manchester
United.
He added: "The situation was difficult and we are surviving. We are
surviving, but we know it looks like it never ends.
"We have problems, but this is about surviving and waiting for a
better squad situation, and we are surviving well."