Florent Malouda is looking forward to building the team's both fitness and fan base further today when we meet a Thai Premier League All Star XI in Bangkok.

The Frenchman has been working hard with the rest of the squad under Andre Villas-Boas and is hoping to feature for longer than the 45 minutes he was given in Malaysia on Thursday, as preparations for the beginning of the season continue.

'The coach said some people will play longer this time, and I'd say that our fitness is improving all the time,' the 31-year-old winger said.

'We are not in our best form yet so we need these games, even if it is different conditions from what we are used to or for us to be at our best.

'I can feel the difference from last year, when we lost almost all of our friendlies, and this year we are improving, so that's a good sign! What we're trying to get is that winning mentality and we have to work in the friendlies to be ready for the season.

'We are not gelling yet, because we have had a lot of training sessions mixed with the games, so let's say we take these games as additional training sessions and the further we go in pre-season the better we will play and the more normal the games and performances will seem.'

The humidity levels dropped for yesterday's training session at the Rajamangala National Stadium as the players encountered a torrential downpour, though Malouda is expecting a return to what has become normality for the game.

'The weather doesn't concern me too much, I come from French Guyana so it's the kind of weather I am used to, and during my holidays I was playing football a lot of the time with my charity work so I am used to it a little bit,' the winger reported.

'We have to ignore the heat because we are here to entertain our fans. We receive many messages from them at Cobham but when you can see them at the hotel or the airport you can see all their expectations and the love they are giving you, of course as a player you are affected by that, you receive so much support and it's great to see how important Chelsea is in the world.'

Chelseafc.com