Chelsea won't get Africa Cup blues, says Carlo Ancelotti
Denies rift with French winger Malouda
Carlo Ancelotti remains convinced his Chelsea side can overcome the loss of their Africa Cup stars after the holders started the New Year with a crushing 5-0 FA Cup home win over Watford.
And the Chelsea manager reacted to Sunday's victory at Stamford Bridge by denying reports of a rift with French forward Florent Malouda.
Ancelotti's Premier League leaders crushed their Championship opponents to earn a fourth round tie away to another second-tier side in Preston North End.
The win was secured by two goals from Daniel Sturridge - his first for the club - strikes from Frank Lampard, Malouda and a John Eustace's own-goal.
The performance of Sturridge particularly pleased Ancelotti who asked the 20-year-old to lead the attack in the absence of Didier Drogba, on African Nations Cup duty in Angola with Ivory Coast, and injured forward Nicolas Anelka.
And the Italian coach believes the morale boost of getting off the mark in only his third start since his pre-season move from Manchester City will provide Sturridge with a major lift.
"It was a good performance and Sturridge played very well," said Ancelotti.
"Without Drogba, it was important to have him in good condition. He scored two goals and that's important for a striker, to score."
Anelka will be fit for the Chelsea's weekend trip to Hull City and Ancelotti is already thinking about fielding two forwards in the absence of Drogba and Ivory Coast team-mate Salomon Kalou.
"He (Anelka) will be ready for Saturday," Ancelotti confirmed.
Malouda, meanwhile, revealed he had sought talks with Ancelotti after being left out of the starting line-up in a number of major games this season.
"I spoke with Malouda before the game against Birmingham and explained to him my position," Ancelotti said.
"For me, that was finished. But there's no problem. It's normal that a player wants to play every game. Above all, the important games. For us, for me, Malouda is an important player."