SOCCER: David Hyntertalks to a midfielder who has recovered from several setbacks that might have broken a lesser man

Michael Ballack already has a quadruple to his name. The German's version, though, is laden with remorse. That he can address the events of 2002 speaks for his resilience yet as Chelsea chase another fistful of honours, starting tomorrow at the League Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur, he can think only of happier endings.

"It was the darkest period of my career," said the midfielder, reflecting on the whirlwind finale to the Bundesliga season, when his Bayer Leverkusen team went down in history as Bayer Neverkusen. Five points clear at the top of the table with three games left, they contrived to lose the first two, surrendering the initiative to Borussia Dortmund. Victory on the final day could not undo the damage; Dortmund also won to take the title.

If that shattered Ballack, then more was on the way. Leverkusen lost the German cup final to Schalke and then the Champions League final to Real Madrid at Hampden Park, in a match lit up by Zinedine Zidane's volley.

The biggest blow was reserved for the summer. Having driven Germany to the semi-final of the World Cup, Ballack scored the only goal of the game against South Korea to set up a final with Brazil. Yet he also received a yellow card that would see him suspended for the biggest game of his life. Brazil won 2-0 to take the trophy.

"We had the chance to make history with Leverkusen and we won nothing," he said. "It was three times second. I thought it could not get worse and then I was suspended for the World Cup final and the team lost to Brazil. I had a terrible summer and it's a memory that I don't want to think about. I really hope that will not happen to me and my team-mates at Chelsea. I don't think it will."

As with Bayer, Chelsea enter the business end of the season in contention for everything but that is where the similarities end. The German club are the eternal runners-up and Ballack can also remember when they combusted on the final day of the 1999-2000 Bundesliga season. Needing only a draw at unfancied Unterhaching to clinch the title, they lost 2-0, with Ballack scoring an own-goal. Chelsea, though, have a squad packed with champions, one with the cold-hearted professionalism to deal with pressure.

"To have won the title with Leverkusen would have been very historic because it is a small club," said Ballack. "But at Chelsea, we have strong players who already know what it takes to win trophies. At Leverkusen, it was all new to us. We were unlucky but also we were inexperienced. When you know what it takes to win a title, it makes you stronger for the next time. That is what we have at Chelsea so I'm not worried that we will end the season without a trophy."

Ballack and Chelsea have been here before. They entered the final week of February last season with slow-burning dreams of an unprecedented quadruple. The first hurdle was cleared when they beat Arsenal in the League Cup final but the Premier League and Champions League proved beyond them. Their FA Cup triumph over Manchester United at Wembley sugared the pill.

"It's a dream to win all four trophies; no team has ever done it and it will be very difficult," said Ballack. "I am happy to play for a club that tries to win all four competitions . . . we always play a very strong team.

"We are eight points behind Arsenal in the Premier League at the moment. It's not easy to close that gap but we have great potential because everyone is fit now. If you see our squad, it's unbelievable."

The setbacks have not stopped since Ballack moved to England. He damaged his ankle at Newcastle United in the Premier League towards the end of last April and what he hoped would be a brief lay-off turned into two operations and an eight-month nightmare. He missed the Champions League semi-final defeat against Liverpool and the first FA Cup final at the rebuilt Wembley. But he continues to thrust out his chest and strut.

"The FA Cup final was my target when I had the (original) operation but I didn't make it. People thought it was my fault that I had the injury but you can't control these things. I was with the Chelsea team at Wembley and I felt the atmosphere, and so I really hope I can play this time."

Ballack returned in the League Cup quarter-final against Liverpool on December 19th and laid on the clinching goal for Andriy Shevchenko. He has not looked back since. Over his shoulder, however, is all the motivation he needs.