Drogba to miss start of season

Absence
The 30-year-old has spent the summer recuperating from the long-standing problem and will not be fit for the Premier League opener against Portsmouth FC on 17 August. Drogba is likely to sit out Chelsea's second match at Wigan Athletic FC too and while Scolari hopes to have him back for the Tottenham Hotspur FC game on 31 August, the Brazilian conceded that the nature of the injury makes it difficult to predict a return date.

Anelka onus
"When you have a knee injury, you just never know," he said. "He's getting better and is working with a fitness coach back at the training ground. I hope he will be ready to start training next week but he will not play until he is in good condition." In the absence of Drogba, Chelsea will be relying heavily on Nicolas Anelka, who scored four goals in an impressive 5-0 defeat of AC Milan on Sunday. Salomon Kalou is on international duty with Ivory Coast at the Olympic Games.