Frank Lampard has identified the next two Champions League matchdays, when the same sides meet home and away, as the likely deciding action in Group A.

With Chelsea and CFR Cluj level on points at the top of the table and Roma hauling themselves back into contention with their away win against pointless Bordeaux, three sides will be feeling confident of making the knockout stages.

'Now it is very open,' agrees Lampard. 'For Bordeaux it is going to be very difficult but for Roma, ourselves and Cluj, the next two games are very important. Whoever can get positive results has a very good chance of going through.'

Chelsea entertain Roma at the Bridge before heading to the Stadio Olimpico while Cluj could go a long way towards an historic qualification with back-to-back games against the group's bottom side.

'It was no surprise that Cluj played well against us. Their result against Roma proved they were a good team,' reckoned Lampard.

'Their team played very well against us. They defended cleverly and they counter-attacked very fast. They had some chances but we didn't play as well as we can do.

'We played some decent stuff at times in the first half but we never really penetrated. Nicolas Anelka gave us that little bit extra in the second half, alongside Didier, those two are going to threaten anyone, but then Didier unfortunately injured his knee. We don't know how long he is going to be out for but he is a huge loss for us.'

Should Drogba be ruled out for any length of time, Lampard insists it is no time for panic.

'It is not ideal but we have Nico [Anelka], Kalou, Di Santo who is young - so the experience isn't there but the quality is and if Didier is out, we are going to have to get by.

'Nico is a top-quality striker and we are going to have to pitch in with goals from all over the park which is something we have always done.'

The team will also need to prevent goals going in at the other end and Lampard paid tribute to the save by Petr Cech in the closing stages from Alvaro Pereira that prevented a damaging defeat.

'For me he is the number one in the world and he made the type of save that he makes for us time and time again.'

Cech himself had spoken before the game about the dangers of playing underdogs with a home crowd behind them and little pressure on top.

'We knew exactly what it was going to be like,' the keeper reflected, 'and if you win your league over Steaua Bucharest, who are always in the Champions League, and have a lot of Portuguese and South American players, it means there is some quality and they showed it here.

'We are not as close to qualification as we wanted. We are not happy but maybe in the future people will say this was a good point. We don't know at the moment.

'We kept our position at the top of the group and we have a game at home against Roma which will be very important.'