New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas feels the start of his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge could prove to be slightly difficult.
The Blues kick off the 2011/12 Premier League season with an away trip to Stoke City and the Portuguese tactician is putting all his focus on a solid start for the London club.
"It is an awkward start," he told AFP.
"We go to Stoke, who had a successful year last year, and are an aggressive, straightforward and forward-thinking team.
"It is a big challenge in the first game, then we have two home games and we are happy to start in this way.
"We have to be confident enough from the start to be able to perform," he continued.
"We have two weeks in Cobham, then we move to Asia."
