Drogba facing surgery
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba faces up to five weeks on the sidelines after it was revealed he requires surgery to repair the groin injury he sustained against Liverpool last Sunday.
Drogba will go under the surgeon’s knife in a bid to speed up his rehabilitation and although Chelsea are keen to emphasise the operation is not serious, the Ivory Coast international could be out until mid-November.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said: “Didier has an injury and the medical department found the best way to solve it would be with a little surgery. But we think he can be back in four or five weeks.”
Drogba’s return for Chelsea, should his recovery fail to hit any setbacks, is likely to be the November 6 Barclays Premiership appointment with Everton, but Fulham a week later is also a possibility.
Any delay would prove to be a major headache for Mourinho who, despite an extensive spending spree over the summer, is struggling to fill the boots of his £24million signing from Marseille.
Drogba is one of only six players to have started every match for Chelsea this season and Mourinho has become increasingly reliant on the 26-year-old’s finishing, with a lack of goals coming from elsewhere in his team.
The African forward has hit the target five times in 10 appearances while the only other player in Chelsea’s squad to have scored more than one Premiership goal is midfielder Joe Cole.
Drogba’s spell on the sidelines has left Mourinho with just one fit striker in Iceland international Eidur Gudjohnsen.
The injured Mateja Kezman and Adrian Mutu could be back in time to face Manchester City in little over a week’s time, but it remains to be seen whether Mourinho will use the Romanian forward following their recent spat.
