Claudio Ranieri's English may still be a work in progress but he didn't have any difficulty understanding why the English newspapers recently took to calling him a dead man walking.

Even the Italian himself now appears resigned to being replaced as Chelsea's manager this summer with the club's bil-lionaire owner Roman Abramovich determined to bring in FC Porto's Jose Mourinho.

But every condemned man has a right to a final appeal and Ranieri's comes at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, when Chelsea will attempt to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit in their Champions League semi-final against Monaco.

Having guided Chelsea to the last four of the Champions League and virtually secured second place in the Premiership, Ranieri can hardly be accused of failing to provide Roman Abramovich with a decent return on his investment in the west London club.

The Italian is also acutely aware that his reputation as a coach has been compromised by the tactical blunders which allowed a ten-man Monaco to emerge from the first leg with such a commanding lead.

In theory, the 2-0 win it would take to put Chelsea into the final should not be beyond them. In practice, as Ranieri readily admits, containing Monaco for an entire 90 minutes is a fiendishly difficult task.

"I think we are more out than in the final but we have a last chance and we believe anything could happen," he said. "It will be difficult because we believe Monaco are better away than at home - it was the reason I wanted to win the first leg.

"We have to stay calm, play our football and try and put them under pressure. It is very, very difficult but if we give our best performance, everything is possible."

Chelsea will have to do without the experience of Marcel Desailly, who is suspended after being caught on camera elbowing Fernando Morientes in the

after they beat Arsenal at Highbury to reach the last four.

Monaco in contrast looked lacklustre despite a 2-1 win at Nice in the French first division on Friday and Morientes has warned they will have to be on their guard on Wednesday.

The striker, on loan from Real Madrid, believes Monaco could come unstuck if they try and defend their lead and blow their chance of reaching the final for the first time in the club's history.

"If we sit back and try and

first leg, and his France teammate Claude Makelele, who is also suspended.

Ireland winger Damien Duff will also miss the match, and the rest of the season, after dislocating his shoulder for the second time in four months.

But Ranieri's side at least go into the match with their confidence restored after a 4-0 win over Southampton on Saturday, finally ending a five-match winless run that started immediately

defend our lead we could be in for a nasty surprise," Morientes said.

"Chelsea have enough quality to score two or three times. But if we score, they will need four to go through and that is the attitude we have to take into this match.

"We are one step away from the final but we have got to keep our feet on the ground. If we can't cope with the pressure Chelsea will put on us we will not be going to any final."