CHELSEA boss Jose Mourinho fears a striker crisis ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League trip to Barcelona after his side's battling Bramall Lane win over Sheffield United came at a price. Mourinho revealed he lost Andriy Shevchenko before kick-off with a leg muscle injury . . . then watched as Didier Drogba limped out of action at the interval with a damaged right foot.

Both are now big doubts for the visit to the Nou Camp but Mourinho insisted he would seek inspiration from third-choice goalkeeper Hilario, whose early penalty save helped seal yesterday's success. "In the first game against Barcelona we played without two keepers and maybe now is the time to play without two forwards and I will just take defenders and midfielders."

Mourinho would not be drawn on the extent of Shevchenko's injury but added of the withdrawal of Drogba: "It was not a precaution . . . he could not play.

He is in a lot of pain at the moment." Mourinho hailed Hilario . . . whom he had preferred to the fit-again Carlo Cudicini . . . for his 17th minute spot-kick save when he dived to his left to deny Blades striker Danny Webber. His heroics helped the champions ride out an early storm in front of a passionate home crowd before Frank Lampard fired the visitors ahead in the 43rd minute and Michael Ballack's header sealed the points.

"He (Hilario) is amazing.

He is cool and comfortable in goal and I think the penalty save was a three-point save.

You never know if Sheffield United are 1-0 up. I am happy with the way we fought against difficult opposition.

They have their style and they play with their strength.

They are a team with a lot of enthusiasm."

Chelsea hardly had a chance to threaten Paddy Kenny's goal before Drogba, who moments earlier had put in a great saving challenge to deny Claude Davis a shooting chance, fouled the same player. Despite Drogba's protests referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot but Webber . . . the only survivor from the midweek Carling Cup mauling by Birmingham . . . hit a tame low effort which was well saved.

Blades boss Neil Warnock admitted: "We've got to have people who can put them away. We don't make anything easy and it would have been lovely to put them under pressure." But undaunted, the Blades kept pressing and enjoyed swathes of territorial possession in the first half, with Alan Quinn shooting just over and Rob Hulse edged out in the box by John Terry.

Chelsea's best early shout had come from a penalty appeal of their own, when Paulo Ferreira cut into the box and fell theatrically under the challenge of Davis.

Davis was also on hand to block an Arjen Robben cross, and Ballack had a half-chance squeezed around his own post by Chris Armstrong, before Lampard began to make his match-winning contribution. The England midfielder saw a point-blank header brilliantly saved by Kenny . . . but one minute later counted his luck from a long free-kick which bounced horribly over Kenny into the net.

Warnock questioned the referee's interpretation of the advantage rule in the buildup to the goal and admitted his own team might need to get more cynical to survive.

"We are a little bit naive.

Their players sometimes go down where we stumble on and we have to catch up with the Premiership level of what to do in certain situations. I will be looking to add some quality in January but we need to stick in there in the meantime and be a bit more professional at times. We are easy to referee because we never try to convince him."

There was no way back for Warnock's men as Chelsea, despite being shorn of the in-form Drogba, grabbed the crucial second in the 50th minute when Ballack headed home Lampard's left-wing cross. With one eye on their trip to Spain, Chelsea were happy to contain the visitors for the remainder of the game and Mourinho added:

"For a team like us with a game every three days, it was a good decision."