Ancelotti expects Anelka to stay

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti insists Nicolas Anelka is 100 percent committed to the Blues despite reports that talks over a new contract for the France striker have broken down.

Anelka has 18 months left on his current deal and Chelsea have been unable to tie him to a new contract during several months of negotiations.

The 30-year-old has proved his value to Ancelotti’s team this season with 11 goals, including five in his last four appearances, and his fine form has ensured Didier Drogba has hardly been missed during his time at the African Nations Cup.

Reports on Tuesday that there was only a small chance of a positive contract resolution raised the unwanted possibility of Chelsea having to sell Anelka in the close-season or risk losing him on a free transfer in a year.

But Ancelotti is adamant the former Real Madrid and Arsenal star wants to remain at the west London club and he expects a compromise to be reached.

Asked if he believed Anelka wanted to stay, Ancelotti said: “Yes. The same for Nicolas. He’s happy to work with me and I’m very happy to work with him. That’s a wedding, no? We don’t want to break up!

“I think that they are speaking with his agent and they will try to find the right solution for both the club and for him.

“I’m confident he’ll sign. Anelka is a top player and this club needs to have a lot of top players. There will be a resolution.”

After dropping to third place in the Premier League while on FA Cup duty at the weekend, Ancelotti’s side have a chance to regain top spot with a win over Birmingham at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday if Arsenal fail to defeat Aston Villa the same day.

Ancelotti knows in-form Birmingham will pose a tough test for his team after extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 matches over the weekend.

But Chelsea have won 10 of their 11 home league games this season – scoring seven times in their last home match against Sunderland – and Ancelotti expects his players to rise to the challenge of ending Birmingham’s impressive streak.

“It’s not good (to be third). I think it is important to win on Wednesday because we need three more points. But it’ll be very difficult because everyone knows Birmingham’s quality,” he said.

“They haven’t lost for 15 games and are having an unbelievable season. They have done fantastically well.

“So it’s important for us to have a very good performance. The same as we did against Sunderland, we hope, because we play a very compact team.

“It’s important to move the ball quickly against them because they are able to stay compact for 90 minutes. If we do our best, I think we can win.”

Ancelotti expects United and Arsenal to push his side all the way in a title race shaping up to be a tense three-team scramble for the finish line.

“I think we have to keep in control of both teams. Both teams have enough quality to stay in the top until the end of the season,” he said.

“It’ll be a sprint to the final game. I think all three teams will be in it until the end.”

The Blues, who have two games in hand on current leaders United, will be bolstered by the return to training of Drogba and Salomon Kalou on Wednesday after Ivory Coast were knocked out of the African Nations Cup.

Neither will feature against Birmingham but the pair should be available for Saturday’s trip to Burnley.

“Drogba is an important player for us but we’ve played very well without him,” added Ancelotti.

“It’s important that he comes back here because we have a lot of games in this period and we need to have a lot of players able to play.”

However Juliano Belletti won’t be available for up to a month after a scan revealed the Brazilian defender suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s FA Cup win at Preston.