CHELSEA striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink admitted his relief at having ended his mini scoring drought as he targeted a further step towards a Champions League finish at Blackburn tonight.

Chelsea moved temporarily into fourth place with their 3-0 weekend win against Everton, although Newcastle are back ahead of them by a point after their 1-1 draw against Fulham on Monday night.

While Bobby Robson's side also still have a game in hand, Chelsea can increase the pressure on their rivals for a Champions League finish by securing another victory at Ewood Park tonight.

Hasselbaink is certainly flowing with confidence after scoring twice against Everton at Stamford Bridge to end a run of five games - including one international friendly for Holland against England - without a goal.

Given the scale of his scoring achievements so far during this campaign, with 29 goals to his name including 23 of them in the Barclaycard Premiership, that had comfortably been his longest period without finding the back of the net this season.

The Dutchman told Chelsea TV: "It's always a relief to score but it's even better to score and to win.

"I was very proud of the first goal against Everton, but I was a bit lucky as I slipped just before I chipped the goalie."

Hasselbaink and Emmanuel Petit picked up knocks towards the end of last Saturday's game but are expected to be passed fit to face Blackburn.

William Gallas, Celestine Babayaro and Jesper Gronkjaer may still be just short of full fitness, although Boudewijn Zenden could return to the starting line-up.

Defender John Terry, meanwhile, was planning to fly up to the north-west after appearing in court this morning for the latest hearing following charges in the wake of a nightclub incident in January.

Chelsea, who flew the rest of the squad to the north-west yesterday, are counting on the fact that the hearing was due to start at 9.30am and take little more than 30 minutes to complete.

That would leave Terry free to join up with the squad after shrugging off the after-effects of 12 stitches in a head wound after being taken off against Everton when he crashed into a goalpost.

Boss Claudio Ranieri would be relieved to have Terry available, especially as he admitted: "Playing Blackburn is another hard game but we are used to playing difficult games."

Ranieri has, meanwhile, reassured chairman Ken Bates that he has no intention of joining Barcelona this summer by pledging to end his managerial career at Stamford Bridge.

Bates insisted that he has had no contact with the Spanish club, who have put him on their shortlist to replace coach Carles Rexach this summer, and would not be interested in leaving Stamford Bridge in any case.

He revealed: "Claudio said to me, 'I have a year left on my contract. I am happy here. I like the English way of life. It's hell in Italy and to a lesser extent in Spain as well. You get hounded and have no private life'.

"He is enjoying doing his job here and he feels that he has turned the team from the one he inherited into his own side."

Ranieri, who has an option to extend his current deal by two years, has already started planning for next season, building his team around three or four experienced internationals allied to "hungry young lions".

Bates added: "He would preferably like to see through the job at Chelsea and then retire rather than start again in another country."