Yury Zhirkov vows to prove his worth

Yury Zhirkov has vowed to show his worth at Chelsea following speculation that he could leave Stamford Bridge in the January transfer window after an injury-hit start to his Chelsea career. Zhirkov joined Chelsea from Russian side CSKA Moscow, but a knee injury has limited the player to only twenty-seven appearances since his arrival.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has already said that the Russian international is not for sale and intends to keep hold of the defender. Carlo Ancelotti has told Zenit St Petersburg and Spartak Moscow to forget about signing Yury Zhirkov.

"He had a very good season last year," said the Italian. "He was fit to play our more important games towards the end of the season, when he didn't have an injury he played important games."

'He played when Ashley Cole had an injury, and played very important games. For me Yury is a very important player, he didn't start a lot of games but you can't say he is not important.

'He can play a lot of positions on the pitch, he played very well as a left-back and as a midfielder. He is a very important player for us and I never thought he could leave Chelsea.'

The Russian international is set to run out against Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Champions League at the Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday evening as Group F's two unbeaten teams go head-to-head.

"I've not lived up to my full potential because I haven't played too many games in the first team," said Zhirkov.

"But I'll try to show more. I'm getting fitter game by game, and I'll try to show more. My fitness is getting better and I'm feeling more confident."

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