Villa Captain: I Would Rather Face a Rhino Than Didier Drogba

Stiliyan Petrov has joked he would rather fight a rhino than come up against Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

The Aston Villa captain suggests the towering Chelsea forward is a ferocious opponent on his day and worthy of his reputation as one of the Premier League's toughest centre-forwards.

Speaking to the Christmas Issue of Match of the Day Magazine, the aforementioned Villa midfielder admits he would rather face a battle with a rhino rather than three versions of the Chelsea striker.

Explaining his answer to the particularly bizarre question, Petrov suggests Drogba's strength and power not only makes the Chelsea talisman a handful to mark, but also gives the Ivorian the ability to "really hurt you".

"The rhino, because you don't want to come across (Chelsea star) Didier Drogba." Petrov told Match of the Day Magazine.

"He's got great strength and is very difficult to handle - he could really hurt you."

Drogba joined Chelsea in July 2004 for £24 million and he has since established himself as one of the Premier League's greatest ever foreign players. The 33-year-old has scored 147 goals for Chelsea and has won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and two League Cups.

The Ivory Coast international was recently rumoured to be considering his future at Chelsea following comments from his agent that intimated he would not be willing to sign a new contract at Stamford Bridge.

The Christmas issue of Match of the Day Magazine is on sale now, priced at £4.99.