Roma captain Francesco Totti believes he is fit to start his side's Champions League clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The former Italian international, who evolved into the principal goalscorer in the team under current Roma manager Luciano Spalletti, winning the European Golden Boot for the 2006/7 campaign, played 70 minutes on Sunday, his first start since returning from a cruciate ligament injury.

'After the weekend I have had no reaction from my knee, it has not swollen after the game so I am ready to be selected,' said Totti before training at the Bridge on Tuesday night.

The return of their talisman is good news for a Serie A side that has struggled to match the form that took them to second place last season and the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

They currently lie 14th in their domestic league and suffered a famous home defeat by CFR Cluj last month.

'The main difficulty at the moment is the results, and when you can't achieve the results you want to achieve then that is always going to be a problem,' admitted Totti.

'In one part we have been a bit unlucky, in another part it is because we have not been playing particularly well, but it is our fault and we have to get over these problems.

'We have to display the right attitude, we have to play well and we have to compete,' he added.

'We do have a very important game ahead of us,' said manager Spalletti as he previewed the match, 'but the main opponent is these difficulties, and when we focus on these problems, then we can move on and face Chelsea.

'Chelsea are one of the best teams and have one of the best managers at the moment, there is no doubt about that.

'So it will certainly be an extremely tough match against a tough opponent, but this could do Roma good. It is something that we have to face up to and could be a good kind of medicine.'

The Roma camp admits losing 4-0 at home against Inter Milan on Sunday was not good preparation.

'We are concerned,' said Totti. 'On Sunday none of us expected to find ourselves in the situation we were in. But we are a strong team, we are competitive and we will manage to turn things around.'

'The choices I make regarding the team I send out tomorrow will be to move in the right direction,' said Spalletti.

'We have talked about getting the right balance and getting behind the ball, and sometimes you can be a bit complacent and stop doing those things.

'We need to get back to those ways. We have to work in the right way, we have to be professional and we have to turn our sleeves up and work hard.'