LONDON: Petr Cech stated his long-term commitment to Chelsea by saying he wishes to double his tally appearances for the London club.

The goalkeeper, who reached 300 Chelsea appearances in last month's 3-1 win over Blackpool, told his club's official magazine, Chelsea: "To hear someone say that you have made over 300 appearances for Chelsea sounds really nice, especially when, over that time, we have been regarded as one of the best clubs in Europe, and in the world.

"I hope there will be more to come. Now, it's 300. But, who knows, maybe it can be 600 in years to come.

"It's been a fantastic time for me and something I will always remember. As a personal achievement, I rank it highly. That's because not everyone can say they have played so many games for one of the leading clubs. And those games came in seven great years during which we won so much — the league three times and three FA Cups, including the Double.

"There's also the League Cup and Community Shield twice — every trophy in England."

One of the former Chelsea players Cech admires most is goalkeeper Peter Bonetti.

However, the Cech international dismissed any notion of playing long enough to surpass Bonetti's record of 729 appearances by a Chelsea shot-stopper.

"Bonetti spent 20 years at the same club! That's a long time and, you never know, but — at the moment — I can't see me still playing when I'm 38 or older. I can hardly imagine it because nowadays the game is so fast and demanding. You never know, but we'll have to see. As long as the club and everybody else wants me to stay and play for Chelsea I will be happy to do so. Cech does have one Chelsea club record firmly in his sights though.

"The only non-British player who has more games than me now is Gianfranco Zola, and he is one of the club's biggest legends. So, if I can get over 312 games, that's another milestone and it will make me proud again," he said.

"When I joined the club in 2004, I was 22 years old and full of excitement. Now I'm here, almost seven years later, and I still feel the excitement and I still like it. I also have so many things to look back on as well. When you achieve what we have since I arrived, it's amazing."

Cech also provided an insight into the real threat relegation can pose to the the careers of fellow professionals.

According to Cech, a little-known French league tie in 2003 had a major impact on the direction his career took and at the same time helped him develop the strength of character he possesses to overcome adversity.

Having left his native Czech Republic for the first time in 2002 after signing for Rennes, Cech soon found himself in a difficult situation.

If it wasn't for a victory on the final day of the campaign, Rennes would have been relegated.

Cech said of the experience: "That was the hardest day of my career. That day seemed like a year because so much goes through your mind. I was thinking, 'If we are relegated in the first season, then my career will be going in the wrong direction.'

"There is a lot of pressure when you are in the relegation zone. When you go down, your whole life and career can change — everything after that could have been completely different. So it was a great preparation for coming here and playing at the highest level. When I look at it now it's good, because I knew after that experience I was ready to come here."

● Chelsea magazine goes on sale tomorrow. For more information on Chelsea go to www.chelseafc.com.

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MADRID: Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp expressed big disappointment at their 4-0 demolition at the hands of Real Madrid in their first-leg quarterfinal at Santiago Bernabeu this morning.

The night started badly for Spurs as they lost speedy winger Aaron Lennon minutes before kick-off and when the game began, it got no better as Peter Crouch was sent off after 15 minutes with Spurs already a goal down thanks to an Emmanuel Adebayor header.

A further goal from the former Arsenal striker, alongside strikes from Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo looked to have all but knocked the visitors out at the last eight stage.

"It was one of those days where anything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong," Redknapp told Sky Sports.

"We lost Lennon a minute before kick-off, just before we walked out onto the pitch. He said he didn't feel well and that he had no energy and had no strength. I had to make a change just as we were leaving the dressing room.

"To go a goal down and get Crouchy sent off, I thought in the firsthalf we had done ever so well. We had a couple of good chances but in the end it's difficult. You come here and play with 10 men for nearly 80 minutes, it's very difficult."

The dismissal of Crouch not only left Spurs a man short but meant they lost their only striker for the remainder of the half which Redknapp believed affected them both in attack and defence.

"We lost Crouchy at set plays and it left us short," he admitted.

"They were bigger and stronger than us in the air and Adebayor obviously got a couple of free headers but that's how it goes.

"He's the most inoffensive footballer you've ever seen, isn't he? He's certainly not one for getting red cards or making rash challenges but I haven't seen them (the fouls).

"He's lunging in for the second one and it's cost us dearly. You need 11 men on the pitch here and then you end up losing your rightback [Vedran Corluka] and Gareth Bale gets cramp. Redknapp went on to bemoan the injury crisis which has recently befallen Spurs and hinted the side's priorities will now shift to the Premier League.

"The tough job is that we've got injuries. We had Niko Kranjcar on the bench who wasn't fit, we've lost Corluka to his ankle and now it's just about finding 11 now for Saturday against Stoke.

"Hopefully, we can go on a run in the league now. We've had a great season so far and we have to finish it strongly."

Captain Michael Dawson also admitted Crouch's sending-off in his side's devastating defeat and damaged their chances of picking up anything from the game.

"It certainly made a big difference. Playing against Real is hard work and they scored two world class goals in the last two. We'll go away disappointed but we've got to pick ourselves up because we've got to go out next week and try and put on a performance.

"Going down to 10 men so early on is hard work — you've got top class players out there."

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