Didier Drogba Playing Catch-Up With Anelka?

Didier Drogba should finally start a game tonight for the first time since recovering from his knee injury. However, with him still being short on fitness and Nicolas Anelka having found some form, Drogba shouldn’t expect to walk back into the side when it comes to our Premier League games.

Whilst the Ivorian’s name has always been one of the first on the team sheet, his lengthy absence and slow recovery, together with Nicolas Anelka’s sudden ability to hit the back of the net with a much more respectable frequency, means Drogba won’t necessarily be Chelsea’s first choice striker just now, and rightly so.

Chelsea’s assistant first-team coach, Ray Wilkins, who seems to be doing rather a lot of interviews lately if I may say so, says “Didier faces a fight to get back in the side and that’s what being at a big club is all about. Nicolas has different attributes to Drogba and his pace can get him behind defenders in a flash. There’s a very healthy rivalry between the two guys over who will score the most this season. I’m not surprised at how well Nicolas has played because if you look at him over the years he’s always had immense quality. At the moment Luiz Filipe Scolari is getting the best out of him. Nicolas has worked extremely hard to get himself in this situation and we must give him a lot of respect for what he has done.”

Whilst on the Ivorian’s efforts to get back in contention, he says “Didier trained very well yesterday, he also trained today with the guys and is back in the squad, so that’s very pleasant for our situation because obviously we do have Nic in fantastic form. With Didier breathing down his neck for a game it is a nice situation to be in.”