Ancelotti: Drogba absence won't hurt us

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is confident his team will cope without Didier Drogba when the Ivory Coast striker is away on African Nations Cup duty next month.

The 31-year-old bagged a brace in Saturday’s disappointing 3-3 home draw with Everton in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday, but Ancelotti reckons the Blues have the firepower to manage in his absence.

“I believe Didier Drogba, at the moment, is very important for us but I believe we can win without him in January,” said the Italian.

“I would like to say, for the last time, we will not buy anybody in January - 100%.”

Chelsea’s draw gave Manchester United the chance to move level on points with the leaders at the league summit, but Alex Ferguson’s team were condemned to a 1-0 home defeat by Gabriel Agbonlahor’s first-half winner for Aston Villa.

Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov were denied in the second period, leaving Ferguson to contemplate what might have been.

“It is a missed opportunity,” said the Scot. “We created plenty of opportunities and we should have taken at least one.”