Drogba and Anelka leave striker crisis for Chelsea

Frenchman’s injury and Ivorian’s early call to international duty thrusts novices into spotlight

Former Gunner refuses to rule them out (GETTY IMAGES)

The Christmas period began badly for Chelsea yesterday with the news that Nicolas Anelka has suffered a torn hamstring and will be missing for two to three weeks, while Didier Drogba must leave for the African Nations Cup a day earlier than the club had thought and will miss the match with Fulham on 28 December.

Anelka, 30, tore the hamstring in training last week, which ruled him out of last weekend's draw with West Ham. It was only yesterday that the full extent of the injury was revealed by manager Carlo Ancelotti, who now faces a busy run of fixtures without his two leading strikers.

Drogba and his Ivory Coast team-mate Salomon Kalou are available for the Boxing Day game at Birmingham City, but the following day they must leave on international duty, unless the Premier League leaders are successful in petitioning the Ivory Coast into giving them a couple of days' grace, which seems unlikely. As it currently stands, Chelsea will host neighbours Fulham on 28 December with Daniel Sturridge, 20, and Fabio Borini, 18, as their only fit strikers. Neither of them has scored a goal for Chelsea in a competitive fixture.

Anelka's untimely injury leaves the club desperately short in attack. The Frenchman, who was the league's top scorer last season, is likely to also miss the club's FA Cup fourth-round tie with Watford on 3 January, but could be fit for the trip to Hull in the league a week later. Ancelotti also revealed he had made an error in believing that Drogba and Kalou could be available for the Fulham game.

Ancelotti said: "I made a mistake. Officially, the players have to go 14 days before the start of the African Cup of Nations. That starts on January 11. If you control 14 days before, it's the 27th or 28th. I think that Didier – I hope that Didier – will be able to play [against Fulham], but that depends on the Ivory Coast and their federation.

"I spoke with the manager two weeks ago. He would like to have the players, all of them who are involved in the Premiership, on December 27. We cannot go against Fifa rules. If it's possible and the Ivory Coast agree, that'll be good. If it's not possible, he'll have to leave on December 27."

The Ivory Coast manager, Vahid Halilhodzic, has demanded that all players meet up on 27 December ahead of fitness tests the following day, and is unlikely to make exceptions. Chelsea will also be without their midfielders John Obi Mikel of Nigeria and Michael Essien from Ghana during January.

The injury to Anelka could not have come at a worse moment for Ancelotti, given that he will be without Drogba and Kalou, and his side are struggling for form, having dropped seven points in their last four league games. No wonder Chelsea were yesterday playing down Anelka's injury.

Ancelotti said: "It's not a good moment for his injury, but I think that Anelka will recover quickly. He has a little injury, a muscle problem. It's a small problem, but he's not ready to play in these games."

The loss of all three strikers presents a huge opportunity for the inexperienced Sturridge who moved from Manchester City in the summer. Ancelotti repeated his claim that Chelsea will not sign anyone in next month's transfer window, and put his faith in the young England striker.

"No, I'm not changing my mind," he said. "We have a lot of confidence in my strikers. Sturridge has an opportunity to show his qualities. He played against West Ham very well in that second half and, maybe, against Birmingham he can play from the beginning. He is a good talent. I didn't ask for new players to my club. I think that we have good solutions internally. If you have new players, maybe it's a problem in February or March. We don't need them in this moment."

Sturridge's only start for Chelsea came in the Carling Cup at Bolton, where he was withdrawn after 62 minutes. He has yet to score in five appearances for the club. Last season, he scored four goals in 26 appearances for Manchester City. Borini has no goals in six appearances for Chelsea this season.