Schlupp hopes to face Essien

Leicester teenager Jeff Schlupp hopes to come up against his Ghanaian hero Michael Essien when the Foxes face Chelsea in the FA Cup.

Essien is revered in Ghana and widely recognised as the greatest player to emerge from the tiny African country.

Schlupp, born in Hamburg in Germany to Ghanaian parents, made his debut for the Black Stars in November but has yet to meet his idol.

The 19-year-old Leicester striker will hope that Essien's involvement for the whole 120 minutes in Chelsea's Champions League victory over Napoli last night does not mean the 29-year-old midfielder is overlooked by interim Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo on Sunday.

"He is someone I look up to," said Schlupp. "He is a well-respected player, the national captain and an idol in Ghana so I would love to play against him. To play against someone like him would be an achievement.

"I also look forward to playing with him at some point too.

"He is a great player, but there are a lot of great players in the Chelsea team."

Even if Essien does not play for the three-time Premier League winners, Schlupp knows that walking out at Stamford Bridge with a semi-final place at Wembley at stake would represent one of the biggest moments of his fledgling career. "Chelsea have always been one of the best teams in the country, they have great players. I would be chuffed to be involved in a game like that," said the Leicester academy graduate.

"They are all great players. To be playing against players like that at my age is a great achievement. I am looking forward to it and hopefully I will be involved and we can beat them.

"It will be one of the biggest games I have been involved in if I am selected." Schlupp scored his sixth goal of the season on Tuesday night during the Championship victory over Birmingham, who held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in the previous round before losing the replay 2-0.

It was Schlupp's first strike since returning from seven weeks out with a knee injury and he hopes it will have propelled him into manager Nigel Pearson's thinking ahead of the weekend.

"I feel 100% and I feel like I am getting better with every game," said Schlupp.

"I feel ready (to start a game) but obviously whatever the gaffer says goes. If he thinks keeping me on the bench is right, then so be it.

"I was delighted to get the goal, it was nice to repay everyone that put faith in me."