Scolari won´t take Drogba out of the firing line

Luiz Felipe Scolari insists he has no fears about playing Didier Drogba at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday despite the Chelsea striker's coin-throwing antics.

Drogba is being investigated by the Football Association and Metropolitan Police after throwing a coin at Burnley supporters following his goal in Wednesday's Carling Cup defeat at Stamford Bridge.

The Ivory Coast star, who had picked up the coin after it was thrown at him from the Burnley section of the ground, is certain to face more provocation from a hostile crowd at the Hawthorns on Saturday, but Blues manager Scolari has no intention of taking him out of the the firing line for his own protection.

Drogba, who is working his way back to full fitness from a knee injury, could even start as Scolari tries to shake up his team following their shock Cup exit in midweek.

“I'm not someone to say kill or not kill. I'm only the coach and I'll receive the information from the police, the club, the FA,” Scolari said.

“Didier is very good. He is in good condition. He can play this weekend. After three or four months, he's ready. He's starting to play.

“Drogba has played the last few games and might be able to play 65 or 70minutes, but not a full game.

“What would I say? (about the investigation) Nothing. For the club, for the police, it's not my business.”

Blues midfielder Frank Lampard also backed Drogba and warned that if he gets hit with a suspension it will encourage other fans to throw missiles in the hope of provoking players.

“He's come out straight away and said he's made a mistake,” Lampard said. “People also have got to stop throwing things on the pitch. I was around Didier at the time and I don't know how many coins there were around.

“Didier has to take responsibility as an individual. I hope he doesn't get banned, but it's up to The FA, who are investigating it.

“But if Didier gets banned, are fans going to do this more to provoke people? Who knows?

“I take quite a lot of corners and it's not unusual to get things thrown at you and lots of abuse, too, and I think it's got to a stage now where it's got to stop.”

Scolari is especially keen to keep Drogba involved because Chelsea's lack of killer instinct in front of goal is starting to worry the Brazilian.

Although Nicolas Anelka is the Premier League's top scorer with 11 goals, Scolari believes his side are missing too many chances and the Burnley defeat underlined his point.

Scolari does expect his team to flourish more often away from the Bridge because opponents have to come out and attack – giving space for his players to express themselves.

“We're still making mistakes in front of goal, but if we score one or two goals, we win every time,” Scolari said. “Most clubs won't give us more than three or four opportunities. That's the case in football.

“We have more chances to win than when we play at Stamford Bridge because the clubs we play outside are playing at home, with the pressure of the fans on them to win the game.

“That gives us the chance to play more freely. At Stamford Bridge, they play for a draw all the time and only have one or two chances.

“We've played some very good games, and others not so good. But, in the last 20 games we've played, there have only been one or two that haven't been good. Against Burnley, we didn't play a bad game.

“They had two shots in the entire game and scored once. That's fantastic and better than us. We had four chances and only scored once.”

Scolari will be without Alex, Joe Cole, Ricardo Carvalho, Juliano Belletti and Di Santo against Albion as injuries continue to bite the Blues hard.

The crisis is so severe that Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack could be on the bench this weekend, even though neither player is fully fit.”