RAFAEL BENITEZ is convinced if Chelsea win the Europa League tonight it will finally be accepted he has done a good job during his short stint at Stamford Bridge.

With a top-four place assured, Benitez will add some silverware to the campaign if Chelsea overcome Benfica.

It would be an adequate return for the Spaniard, who has endured such a miserable time with the Blues support who have never forgiven him for the negative comments he made about their club when he was at Liverpool.

Benitez stopped attempting to win his critics round a long time ago.

But the 53-year-old knows, from the unpromising circumstances he walked into last November, if the Europa League makes this the seventh trophy-winning campaign out of nine for the Stamford Bridge outfit, he will have nothing to reproach himself for.

‘‘You can always make mistakes but it was not an easy situation at the beginning,’’ he said.

‘‘We have managed it quite well. Every day, after every training session, I go home and think we are doing our best.

‘‘For me it is always important to win trophies. If we win it will be easier and people will realise that to be here, at this stage of the competition, means we have done a lot of things well.’’ Chelsea’s task has been made harder by the absence of Eden Hazard, who has failed to recover from the hamstring injury he sustained at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Benitez has promised to give skipper John Terry every chance to get over the ankle problem that forced him to be carried off at Villa Park.

However, Terry only managed a jog round the pitch before being withdrawn from the main training session last evening. In any case, it is highly unlikely the 32-yearold would have started as Chelsea look to complete the unique achievement of winning the Europa League in the season after the Champions League.