Drogba and Anelka leave striker crisis for Chelsea - 7M sport

Drogba and Anelka leave striker crisis for Chelsea

Posted Thursday, December 24, 2009 by The Independent

Frenchman’s injury and Ivorian’s early call to international duty thrusts novices into spotlight

The Christmas period began badly for Chelsea yesterday with the news that Nicolas Anelka has suffered a torn hamstring and will be missing for two to three weeks, while Didier Drogba must leave for the African Nations Cup a day earlier than the club had thought and will miss the match with Fulham on 28 December.

Anelka, 30, tore the hamstring in training last week, which ruled him out of last weekend's draw with West Ham. It was only yesterday that the full extent of the injury was revealed by manager Carlo Ancelotti, who now faces a busy run of fixtures without his two leading strikers.

Drogba and his Ivory Coast team-mate Salomon Kalou are available for the Boxing Day game at Birmingham City, but the following day they must leave on international duty, unless the Premier League leaders are successful in petitioning the Ivory Coast into giving them a couple of days' grace, which seems unlikely. As it currently stands, Chelsea will host neighbours Fulham on 28 December with Daniel Sturridge, 20, and Fabio Borini, 18, as their only fit strikers. Neither of them has scored a goal for Chelsea in a competitive fixture



Nicolas Anelka has suffered a torn hamstring and will be missing for two to three weeks

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