Chelsea will thrive despite loss of Drogba, says Ancelotti

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Having dragged Chelsea out of trouble against Fulham on Monday, Didier Drogba may be somewhat surprised to hear his manager believes his club do not need him. The Ivorian has scored 19 goals this season – including the equaliser against their near neighbours – but Carlo Ancelotti, whose side face a month without Drogba as he travels to the African Nations Cup, is convinced Chelsea can thrive without him nonetheless.

Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien will also be competing at the tournament, but it is the loss of Drogba that will have the greatest impact. Ancelotti, however, is unperturbed by the Ivory Coast striker's departure and looks to this season's Champions League campaign for reassurance. "Didier has scored 19 goals but without him this year we've done very well," said the Chelsea manager. "We won three games in the Champions League when he wasn't playing and we can do the same in the Premiership."

Ancelotti is looking to next month with renewed confidence. The loss of the African contingent is tempered by a Premier League fixture list consisting of meetings with Hull, Sunderland, Birmingham and Burnley. Nicolas Anelka is also expected to return for Sunday's FA Cup tie against Watford following a calf injury.

Ancelotti added: "December has been a difficult time with so many games but in January we will play just one match per week and this is good."