Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti hopes Alex and John Terry will be able to postpone surgery to help the Blues out of their current slump.
Chelsea suffered their second straight Premier League defeat, and their third in four games, at Birmingham on Saturday but Ancelotti is refusing to be downbeat.
One big positive was the surprise appearance of Alex, who defied a knee problem to play, and Ancelotti hopes both he and Terry can play through the pain barrier to get the Blues back on track.
He said: "We have to wait day by day. Alex needs to have surgery but he played without a problem on his knee.
"We have to wait the reaction of the knee. I think we can postpone the surgery and also for John Terry."
Ancelotti knows the pressure levels will be cranked up after Chelsea suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time since May 2006 but he is adamant there is no cause for alarm.
He said: "We got a positive reaction after the Sunderland game.
"We played good football, we played for 90 minutes with good spirt and with a good attitude.
"I don't have to say anything to my players. We were disappointed with the result at Birmingham because we deserved to win.
"But we have to stay confident and look forward to the next game. It is a difficult moment but we don't have to lose confidence.
"We were unlucky but we have to know this is football and these things can happen
"It was a fantastic performance by (Ben) Foster. He saved a lot of opportunities from us and congratulations to him.
"But it is important to maintain belief in our play, in our quality, in our ability.
"If we are able to play like at Birmingham every game, with this attitude, I think we can win. The problem is to play every game like that."
Ancelotti also gave his backing to Didier Drogba who forced two fine saves out of Foster and hit the crossbar.
He has now netted only once in seven games but looked sharper after his bout of malaria.
Ancelotti said: "He was really different (to how he had been playing). He played a good match. He had a lot of opportunities. He was unlucky."
Of more concern to the Italian, was the fact Birmingham scored from their only worthwhile attack of the game.
He said "It is not good we lost the player who ran into the box (Bowyer)
"Maybe there was a mistake but it was just one during the game."
