Blues boss happy with squad

CHELSEA boss Carlo Ancelotti has ruled out buying any new players in the January transfer window unless injuries force him to ask owner Roman Abramovich to open his cheque book.

The Italian coach insists his current squad is good enough to see the Blues through to the end of the season, unless the club suffers a spate of long-term injuries.

Chelsea have been linked with a host of big name players already this season but Ancelotti moved swiftly to dampen any talk of new additions in January – including Liverpool’s out of form striker Fernando Torres.

“I always said that Torres is not our aim for the future because we have trust in a lot of young players,” said Ancelotti.

“We also have fantastic strikers in Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou. We also have fantastic young players like Daniel Sturridge and Gael Kakuta.

“We can be competitive in all competitions with this squad. The most important thing is to avoid injury, when possible.

“We have to maintain the squad with all the players fit. This is the most difficult thing to do, but we’re trying and working hard to do this, to control the recovery of the players.”

An ankle injury has robbed Ancelotti of France international Florent Malouda for tonight’s game while midfielder Frank Lampard remains sidelined following a hernia operation.

Victory over Valery Karpin’s side would give Chelsea the double over the Russians and increase their lead at the top of the group to six points.

A win would also see them qualify for the knockout stage and with games against Marseille (away) and MSK Zilina (home) to come, they would be firm favourites to finish top.

“Malouda has an ankle problem,” confirmed Ancelotti.

“We have a lot of games coming up and I don’t want to take a risk. We have important games against Liverpool and Fulham and we want to play them with the players in good condition.”

But Ancelotti is compensated by the return of Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba. He was suspended for the opening two games in the Champions League and missed the win over Spartak in Moscow through a virus.

Thigh injuries will deprive Spartak of striker Ari and defender Martin Stranzl, while youngster Sergei Parshivlyuk is also set to miss out. Brazilian midfielder Alex could feature after a knock.

Spartak sit second behind Chelsea on six points and manager Karpin insists he has learned the lessons of that defeat a fortnight ago. “We were too scared of our opponents,” he said. “We gave them too much respect.”

Meanwhile, former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady insists he has nothing to prove to Scottish fans after admitting his move to Spartak Moscow was surrounded in negativity.

“People said it was too far away to move to, that the league was too different and it was a different culture. But none of those things have affected me and I have no regrets about the move in the three months I’ve been there.

“Not many people would jump at the chance to move to Russia and so many people I spoke to said they wouldn’t fancy it, it was just the British mentality. Most players from Scotland want to move to the Premier League or stay in Scotland but I wanted to broaden my horizons. I think I am playing in a better league with the exposure of Champions League football.”