John Obi Mikel is confident of filling the void in the Chelsea holding midfield role after the departure of the veteran Frenchman Claude Makelele to Paris St Germain.

Mikel will get another chance to impress Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari in tomorrow’s friendly against Chinese Super League side Chengdu Blades in Macau before they kick off the Barclays Premier League season against Portsmouth on August 17.

It all depends on the system Scolari implements, as he has a vast range of expreinced midfielders to choose from this season.

“I played that role sometimes last season and with Claude`s departure hopefully I’ll have a long run in the team now,” said Mikel.

“I was in and out of the team last season, but when I was given a chance under Ex-Chelsea Coach Jose Mourinho before, I actually did ok in that holding role”.

He added:“This time, under the new boss, I will try to make it my position in the team each week.”