The Peru striker, signed on a free transfer from Bayern Munich, said he was not star-struck by the likes of Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko and was in no mood to spend the season sat on the bench.

The 28-year-old new recruit revealed he wants to be first choice striker at Stamford Bridge, ahead of Chelsea's opening fixture at home to newly promoted Birmingham City on Sunday.

"I am not in England to be a substitute for Drogba," Pizarro insisted.

"He and Andriy Shevchenko are superstars but Claudio Pizarro is not lame and I will compete with them. My dream is to be the number one striker at Chelsea. I am not scared about having rivals for my place."

The Blues' coaching staffs have pledged to adopt a more expansive style of play this season.

The FA Cup holders have recruited fresh faces over the pre-season which Mourinho feels can adapt to a 4-4-2 formation as well as their trusted diamond system which helped them win the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 English Premiership titles.

However, given the number of injuries in the Chelsea squad, just who will be on the team sheet for the Birmingham clash remains to be seen.

England left-back Ashley Cole is the latest player to have sustained a knock -- reportedly a calf problem -- adding to manager Jose Mourinho's defensive headache with captain John Terry already sidelined for around a month due to a knee injury.

Mourinho feels whomever he selects must be flexible, rather than just looking to slot into a traditional English 4-4-2 formation.

The Portuguese maintains that can be beneficial in Europe.

"We can see a lot of teams playing a very good possession game, we can see a lot of teams playing with players between the lines, a lot of teams thinking tactically from game to game and not playing always the typical 4-4-2 they used to play every game," he said.

"A lot of teams are playing with three midfielders and sometimes with five at the back.

"The game is more tactical, it's become more tactical thinking. In my opinion globally about the game, it prepares English teams better to play in Europe."