Drogba & Lampard injuries blamed for Chelsea’s doomed title bid

Carlo Ancelotti has conceded that Chelsea are now out of the Premier League title race and has blamed injury problems for their disappointing campaign.

Chelsea’s title challenge was effectively over when they lost at Wolves in early January, which came at the end of a spell which saw them take just ten points from 11 Premier League fixtures.

They have got back on the winning bandwagon since and have closed to within nine points of Manchester United, while still having a game in hand.

This has left Chelsea at 9/1 in the Premier League odds to be crowned champions and although there is a slim chance of this being accomplished, Ancelotti has indicated that the club’s title challenge is over.

He feels that a lack of squad depth is responsible, as Chelsea were unable to cope when they lost the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Alex at particular parts of the campaign.

Ancelotti said: “I don’t think the squad was good enough this year. At the start of the season, we couldn’t have envisaged having very important players out at the same time. We struggled to manage this.

“Without Lampard and Drogba in the difficult moment, it was not easy to move on without these kind of players, not just their technical qualities but their personality and character. We missed them in November and December when we didn’t play well.”

Chelsea need to win all of their remaining games if they are to win the title and there are reasons to suggest that Manchester United can be caught.

The Red Devils still have to travel to Arsenal and face Chelsea at home and defeats in these two games could take the title race down to the wire.

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