Rafa Benitez could step in for Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea this week.

Defeat to West Bromwich Albion has left AVB on the brink as Blues owner Roman Abramovich prepares to pull the trigger.

The Sunday Mirror says Benitez, the former Liverpool manager, is being seen as a viable short-term boss to produce the kind of stability brought to the troubled club by the experienced Guus Hiddink three years ago.

The stumbling block will be the Spaniard's insistence on a longer deal.