Bridge signs four-year deal

The Chelsea defender Wayne Bridge last night agreed a new four-year contract with the Premiership champions.

The 26-year-old England international had 18 months remaining at Stamford Bridge but he is now contracted with the club until 2010.

The left-back told his club's official website, www.chelseafc.com: "I feel as though I'm playing well this season. I believe that I will continue to get opportunities. It's been a great week for me and I'm delighted to have signed."

Bridge, whose partner, Vanessa, gave birth to a boy on Tuesday, joined the club in 2003 from Southampton and had a 12-match spell on loan at Fulham last season. He has made 85 appearances for Chelsea and has won 24 international caps.

Having missed Wednesday's Champions' League defeat at Werder Bremen, he returned to training on Thursday and is likely to be in the Blues' squad for Sunday's Premiership match at Manchester United.

Chelsea's captain, John Terry, is looking forward to Sunday's showdown, saying: "We saw United on Tuesday [against Celtic] and if we'd have won [against Werder Bremen] it maybe would have given us the edge. It [was] disappointing to lose [1-0] but we have to bounce back. We always react well to defeats."

Frank Lampard returns to face United, and Chelsea are hopeful that Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack, who were injured at Bremen, will recover. Drogba has a sore ankle, Ballack a gash to his calf.