FRANK Leboeuf appeared fit and well at Stamford Bridge last night to pour scorn on scare stories of an injury crisis at Chelsea.

As the guessing game continued over whether Gianluca Vialli will field a severely weakened side against Wanderers in Sunday's relegation decider, Kevin Hitchcock's testimonial went a long way to separating the fact from the fiction.

Leboeuf had been one of seven players reported to be under treatment for a variety of injuries - the implication being that they may not be fit or at least not risked for the Bolton game.

That caused consternation in the Everton camp, where Howard Kendall has expressed concern over the strength of the side Vialli fields, just three days ahead of Chelsea's European Cup Winners Cup Final against Stuttgart. Everton, who meet Coventry at Goodison Park, need a better result than Wanderers otherwise they will be relegated from the top flight for the first time since 1954.

But the classy French defender, who limped out of Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Newcastle, played the first half of the friendly against Nottingham Forest and looked fully fit.

Also in action in the 3-3 draw were Vialli himself, Eddie Newton, Mark Hughes, Dan Petrescu, Ed De Goey, Tor Andre Flo and Mark Nicholls.

Despite the fact that Chelsea still have Gianfranco Zola, Frank Sinclair, Michael Duberry, Dennis Wise, Graeme Le Saux and Andy Myers under treatment, Wanderers refused to be lulled into a false sense of security over the strength, or otherwise of the Chelsea team.

"I'm not in the least bit interested in what the Chelsea team will be," boss Colin Todd said.

"We've said all along that they'll have 11 players out there - just as I know Coventry will have when they go to Everton. Our only concern is to make sure we are focussed on our own game ... nothing else"

Reports originating in France that Wanderers are interested in Montpellier's Christoph Sanchez are two months out of date.

Wanderers checked out the striker ahead of the transfer deadline when they were led to believe he would be available on a free this summer under the Bosman ruling. But he still has a two-year contract with the Montpellier club.

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