Chelsea FC manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has revealed that Didier Drogba is set to miss the start of the season as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
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.
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.
The Ivorien striker had really enjoyed most of last season including the defeat of Manchester United at Stamford Bridge,the defeat of Liverpool FC in the Semi-Final Round of the UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. However, the bust-up with Nemanja Vidic and the eventual finishing as runner-up against the Red-Devils has not really gone well with him.
