Ancelotti happy to let African stars leave early

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has told his African stars they have permission to leave early for international duty at next month’s Nations Cup.

Ancelotti already knew he would be without Ivory Coast strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, Nigeria midfielder John Mikel Obi and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien for most of January and he has now agreed to let them leave at the end of December so they can go to pre-tournament training camps.

The quartet will miss five Chelsea games in January while they are on international duty at the tournament in Angola.

However Essien faces a battle to be fit in time after suffering a hamstring injury in the midweek Champions League draw against APOEL Nicosia.

Ancelotti is happy for Ghana to send over their doctor to examine Essien and the Italian said on Friday: “The African players can all go on December 28.

“Michael had a scan and I think he will be out for between three and four weeks.

“The aim is to work to improve his injury but I think he will be ready to go on December 28, if he stays well.

“I have no problem with the Ghana doctor coming here. If they want to come here to see Essien, there is no problem.”

If their respective nations stay in the tournament until the end, Ancelotti’s African players will miss the FA Cup third round tie against Watford, plus Premier League games at Hull and Burnley and at home against Sunderland and Birmingham.

Even though he will be without those four key players for a lengthy period, Ancelotti insists he has no plans to make many signings in the January transfer window.

The Blues have been linked with Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery, Ajax playmaker Luis Suarez and Shakhtar Donetsk right-back Darijo Srna.

But Ancelotti said: “There is no news on the market in January. We have the same view as we have had in the last week – we do not, at this moment, need to have new players in January.

“We have confidence in our young players, Fabio Borini, Gael Kakuta, Jeffrey Bruma and Nemanja Matic.

“Matic could not play in the Champions League but he is improving very well and very soon he will play in the first team.”

Chelsea have not won for three games in all competitions and the Premier League leaders are just two points ahead of Manchester United after last weekend’s defeat at Manchester City.

Ancelotti was critical of his players’ “soft” display in the 2-2 draw with APOEL and is determined they get back to winning ways against Everton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

“I was not angry after the game, I prefer to say I was unhappy,” he said. “We didn’t do well in the second-half so I spoke with my players after the game, nothing else.

“I do not need a whip with these players, because I know their professionalism. They have to concentrate in every game and play with the same intensity for 90 minutes.

“I know the game against APOEL was not that important but we have to maintain our intensity. But I have seen a very good reaction in the last few days in training. On Saturday we will play a strong match for 90 minutes.

“Mikel make a mistake in the last minutes but I was not unhappy, disappointed or angry. Mikel played well and did one mistake, that is not a problem.

“I don’t shout at my players. If a man shouts at me, I don’t listen. I prefer to speak. It is not good to have a bad reaction. I want a man-to-man relationship with my players and respect them.”