Albert Ferrer admits the FA Cup tie with Arsenal tomorrow could make or break Chelsea's season.

Victory for the cup holders in the fifth-round clash at Highbury would sustain a challenge for European qualification on two fronts and the competition represents the last chance for silverware for a team well-fancied in August to challenge Manchester United for the Premiership crown.

Their woeful away form has hampered any such ambitions and their current ninth place in the table leaves them with a lot to do in their remaining 12 matches to secure a top-three finish and a Champions League berth.

An extension of their travel sickness would leave open the possibility of the unthinkable at Stamford Bridge next year - a season devoid of a continental campaign.

Chelsea have not won on their Premiership travels since April Fool's Day last year but the fourth round of the cup did provide a 4-2 success at Gillingham to secure the heavyweight bout with the Gunners.

Now Spanish international full-back Ferrer admits: ''This match means a lot to us, if we lose we are out but I think, honestly, if we can win this game we can go all the way.

''This is always a big tournament for us, so I think it's a huge game.

''It's important in terms of the FA Cup itself but also in terms of Europe. The cup this year means even more to us than last season.

''We have to be honest that the league is gone. Of course we have to fight until the end when the mathematics say we can't win it but we are also out of the UEFA Cup and this is our only chance to win something this year and we realise that.

''But we cannot play Arsenal with this pressure, we have to play it as a normal game.''

The last London derby between the teams finished 1-1 at Highbury a month ago but Ferrer acknowledges this will be a very different encounter.

He continued: ''I suspect it will be a higher tempo game than when we played Arsenal last time.

''In that match if we had lost we had the chance to recover in the next one, but here it is just 90 minutes, which will be exciting but much more difficult.''

Arsenal are without suspended duo Tony Adams and Ray Parlour while another England international, Martin Keown, has been out recently with a knee problem. ''If all three don't play we have a better chance,'' Ferrer admitted.

''We definitely think it is possible to win there and if we didn't we wouldn't go.

''Sooner or later that away win is going to happen. If we trust in each other and play with confidence it might be the right time to change that run.''

The 30-year-old, who has been playing in an unfamiliar right midfield role in recent weeks, is mystified over their away-day blues.

''I don't have a clue why it has happened. Perhaps it's a mentality thing.

''As soon as we win two or three games away we will think differently. But now we go away thinking 'we haven't won any games'.

''Once you are on the pitch you don't think about it and we don't really talk about it.

''We feel as capable as we do of winning at home so there's nothing wrong and it must change some day.'