Schalke look for Chelsea to return the favour

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany, Nov 7 (Reuters) After letting Chelsea off the hook, Schalke 04 coach Mirko Slomka will look for a favour in return to help his side reach the Champions League last 16.

Schalke had to settle for a goalless draw from a match they dominated against the English side on Tuesday.

That left them in third place in Group B with four points, four behind leaders Chelsea and three adrift of second-placed Rosenborg Trondheim, with Valencia bottom on three.

There is still hope for Schalke with games to come away to Valencia and at home to Rosenborg but Slomka knows they may need a helping hand from Chelsea to come through.

''I still think we have a chance,'' the coach told reporters after the match at the Arena AufSchalke.

''We may have to win both games but we know we have to get at least a point in Valencia and beat Rosenborg, while hoping Chelsea win their games too. It's really a shame we only got a point from this one.'' Schalke lost the away game against Chelsea 2-0, when they were never really in with a chance, and Slomka was pleased that the team had learned their lessons from the defeat.

''We had a lot of problems in London with Chelsea's full-backs getting forward,'' Slomka said. ''We tried to learn from that and we managed to turn it around, getting our own full-backs forward.

''I don't think it was a case of the Chelsea defence not playing well, it was that we were so good in attack.

''We'd have loved to win the game 1-0. We had a lot of good chances. We were a constant threat.'' REUTERS RAR HS1940