Branislav Ivanovic has called for Roberto Di Matteo to be appointed as Chelsea's permanent manager irrespective of results between now and the end of the season. Since taking over from André Villas-Boas on an interim basis in March, Di Matteo has presided over 10 victories and four draws and led Chelsea to the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League. A feeling persists that Roman Abramovich is eager to hire a manager with a greater roll of honour and Di Matteo must win both trophies to have any chance of convincing the owner to look no further.

Ivanovic believes Di Matteo has shown he can deliver success. "In football it's very difficult to look far in the future but at the moment and for the last two months if you ask us, we'll tell you he is our manager and he deserves this job," the defender said. "He is a great manager and we enjoy working with him. If we win these two finals, I hope he will stay with us, but I also hope it doesn't matter on these results."

Ivanovic praised the way that Di Matteo has salvaged Chelsea's season after Villas‑Boas's ill-fated reign, suggesting that the Italian rejuvenated the players by liberating them from the constraints of the over-prescriptive Portuguese and letting them to play to theirs strengths. "The first couple of games were the most important for him and for us," he said. "We started to play to win: it didn't matter how. He gave us a bit more confidence and allowed us to feel the game a little more when we're on the field. Once we got more confidence, he built on this base.

"His tactics are more natural. He organised our team and players to get the best from the players. He does not try to put a strategy on the players, he does the opposite: his approach is that if the players have these qualities, then we must do everything to show these qualities.

"He's great for us and we really enjoy working with him. He was a great player not a long time ago so he feels football here and knows what's going to happen and when he has to be strong in the dressing room and make us quiet and more focused. Everything about his football is great."