London, Nov 29: Sir Alex Ferguson's new-found willingness to recognise Chelsea as serious title rivals could have been predicted with a glance at the bench during Wednesday's Champions League match with Panathinaikos. Squeezed alongside each other were Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Gary Neville and his brother Phil as Ferguson correctly calculated he could afford to rest some of his first team regulars and still come away from Athens with a victory.

All three however will be back in action for tomorrow's Premiership Summit meeting at Stamford Bridge, along with skipper Roy Keane, who was spared the trip to Greece because of a minor hamstring concern.

Ferguson was a high-profile sceptic about Chelsea's ability to effectively absorb the huge influx of new talent made possible by Roman Abramovich's apparently bottomless pockets.

But the Scot is full of admiration for the work done by Claudio Ranieri managing his star-packed squad in a way which has ensured Chelsea currently sit a point above the champions in the Premiership table. "To bring in new players and get the start they did is not easy," Ferguson said. "They have done that part well so I think they are definitely going to be a challenge for us."

"They had a bit of luck early on, scraping through on one or two games, but those results have given them confidence. By doing that, it has given Ranieri the confidence to make changes. That is his position of strength. They've got some terrific players and you would think they were always going to do well, but that start has helped them." Bureau Report