Ancelotti hopes returning trio can bolster Blues

Carlo Ancelotti hopes to welcome back three of Chelsea’s big guns to boost their bid to reclaim top spot in the English Premier League.

After being knocked-off the summit for the first time since April, manager Ancelotti admits his out-of-sorts side face a huge test of their character to reassert themselves at the head of affairs in an intriguing title race.

With Manchester United thrashing Blackburn 7-1 to take pole position, a 1-1 draw away to Newcastle here on Sunday left Chelsea in second, two points behind their biggest rivals for English football’s top prize.

Salomon Kalou’s equaliser cancelled out Andy Carroll’s early opener, but despite dominating much of the second half at a snowbound St James’ Park, Chelsea were unable to claim a winner.

Ancelotti’s side have won just one of their last five league games, and the Italian admits the next few weeks will be a significant test of their resolve.

To add insult to injury, Chelsea’s flight home was cancelled due to blizzard conditions in the north-east, leaving them with a seven-hour coach trip back to London instead.

Defending champions Chelsea have missed injured England duo John Terry and Frank Lampard in addition to the suspended Michael Essien in recent weeks, but all three could be available for this weekend’s home game against strugglers Everton.

Defender Alex will miss out as he is due to undergo knee surgery in Brazil, but Ancelotti is banking on the return of Terry and Lampard being a massive boost to a side that has taken just four points from the last possible 15.

Chelsea were quick to discredit reports they are interested in Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola as a replacement for their Italian boss, and Ancelotti said: “Now is an opportunity to show our character and personality.

“Maybe it could be a good motivation to do better. It’s obviously disappointing to not be on the top of the league. But in the last four away games, we have only scored one goal and that’s obviously not good enough.

“The next week for both John and Frank will be a very important week. They will start to train with the rest of the team and that’s important.

“We will have to see how they do, but I hope that both – maybe more so for John Terry – will be available to play against Everton.

“That will be a great help. Obviously they are very important players – not just technically, but also because of the personality and character they bring to the team.”

Mid-table Newcastle have gone four games without a win, but have claimed four points from matches against Arsenal and Chelsea in the last month in what’s been the most unpredictable Premier League season for years.

Rather than claiming the bigger teams have gone backwards, Newcastle manager Chris Hughton feels the rest of the league is catching up.

“I don’t think it’s a case of the bigger teams not being so strong, I think it’s more a case of the rest of the league doing better than some people might have expected,” he said.