Cahill: Defensively drilled

Man of the match Gary Cahill admitted he anticipated a long night ahead of him as he battled to come to terms with Barcelona's attack early on Wednesday evening. However the defender quickly got to grips with the Catalans' pass and move style and produced a display to remember as we earned a valuable 1-0 advantage to take to Spain for Tuesday's second leg. 'I thought it was going to be a very long night, we knew they would have so much of the ball, but we were well drilled,' said the 26-year-old. 'The first 20 minutes was a little bit difficult but we grew as a team into the game. I felt in the second half, defensively, although there is an element of luck against such a great team, reasonably comfortable. 'It was a purely defensive display, and as a defender that's pleasing, but as a team we set up more defensively than we would against other opposition, and defended brilliantly.' Having only made his Champions League debut in February, Cahill has had to learn quickly at the top level. 'It's nice because I made the step up to international football and I felt I could do that from the games I played with England. Now the experience of Wednesday will be vital for my career going forward,' explained the former Bolton man. 'It's a fantastic experience for me and I need that in this competition, so it's great to play a part. If you ask most of the players they knew how big this game was coming into it, and it's a pleasing result but it will be really tough away from home. 'Concentration levels have to be so high because they have so many players that can turn the game. Like people say it is half-time and that was a great start for us.' Cahill also had kind words for goalscorer Didier Drogba, who he is delighted to be playing alongside, rather than against, having had a few lessons dished out by the Ivorian earlier in his career. 'When I played Chelsea before I never had a positive result, so to have forwards like him and Fernando at the club is brilliant for us,' Cahill said. 'He's in great form. His goal at the weekend against Tottenham was fantastic. If you ask the gaffer the game plan worked brilliantly. We set up defensively and caught them on the counter. '[Didier] had a hard job, playing up front and being isolated but he did brilliantly, and helped out defensively clearing headers away, so the main thing was we were well drilled and stuck to the plan.'