Ancelotti has faith in supporting cast

CARLO ANCELOTTI is happy to rely on his young strikers to help Chelsea through one of the most critical periods of the season.

The Italian coach will be without Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou against Fulham on Monday as they are heading off to link up with the Ivory Coast on Sunday.

The pair, along with Ghana’s Michael Essien and Nigeria’s John Mikel Obi, are all taking part in the African Nations Cup in January.

But the Ivory Coast want their players to join them for a training camp 14 days before the tournament begins on January 10.

Nicolas Anelka, Ancelotti’s only other main striker, is out of both festive games against Birmingham on Saturday and Fulham on Monday due to a muscle problem.

However, Ancelotti has again insisted he does not intend to spend any money on new players in the transfer window and is content to rely on the likes of Fabio Borini and Daniel Sturridge, who have yet to score for the club, against Fulham and then into January.

Chelsea are four points clear of Manchester United at the top of the table going into the Christmas programme but the Italian is adamant buying a striker or two is out of the question.

“No, I’m not changing my mind,” said Ancelotti. “I didn’t ask (owner) Roman (Abramovich) for new players and he has not asked me if I want them. I have a lot of confidence in my strikers. Not only Drogba, not only Kalou, not only Anelka. Also Sturridge and Borini.

“Against Fulham, maybe we’ll only have Sturridge and Borini. But in January we’ll have Anelka and, in January, he’ll be ready to play.

“I didn’t ask for new players to my club. I think that we have good solutions internally.

“Anelka has a little injury, a muscle problem. It’s a small problem but he’s not ready to play in these games. Against Fulham also.

“We will still have 11 against Fulham. If Didier is not here, we can put in other players. Sturridge has an opportunity to show his qualities. He played against West Ham very well in that second half and, maybe, against Birmingham he can play from the beginning.

“They are very important games. We are in a very good position. We have four more points at the top.

“We’re not in our best moment because we didn’t play well in the last few games but, because of this, we have to stay concentrated and focused to try and win our next matches.

“We play very strong teams having very good results, Birmingham and Fulham, so we have to pay attention.

“It’s a very important moment but we still have possibilities, if we do 100%, to win.”

The Chelsea boss believes he has brought back the personality to Chelsea’s team just as Roman Abramovich wanted.

In his autobiography published in May this year, Ancelotti revealed Abramovich had complained that Chelsea had no “personality” and that he “did not recognise them”.

But Ancelotti believes he has returned some of the swagger that Abramovich was desperate for, even though the Russian has not told him so.

“I think that Chelsea have shown a new play in the last year, and shown personality and identity,” said Ancelotti. “Sometimes we can play well. Sometimes we don’t play such a good match. But every game Chelsea play with personality, with a particular system of play and, also, with a good identity.’’

Ancelotti is so confident in his job that he does not fear the Abramovich axe.

“I never think that if I don’t win games Roman will remove me,” he said. “My aim is to do the best for this club, as I have done for other clubs.”

Meanwhile, the Italian coach insists fellow countryman Roberto Mancini has all the necessary experience to be a hit at Manchester City.

City sacked Mark Hughes on Saturday and installed the former Inter Milan coach in his place.

Ancelotti’s relationship with Mancini goes back to their playing days and he believes the 45-year-old has all the components required to be a success at Eastlands.

“He is my friend,” added Ancelotti. “We played in the national team maybe 20 years ago.

“I have a good relationship with him. He was my opponent as the Inter coach, and Inter v (AC) Milan is a derby. But he has a possibility to do very well. He is a young coach but he has a lot of experience. He had three years at Inter and did a very good job. He is young but he has personality and a lot of experience of football.”