Ancelotti delighted with Chelsea’s January

Carlo Ancelotti admitted his delight at Chelsea’s brilliant performances in January despite being without four key players who have been on international duty.

After defeating Birmingham City 3-0, Chelsea moved back on top and kept their good run of form going even though they are without star striker Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien who are all in Angola for the African Cup of Nations, delighting the Italian tactician.

“We did very well in January," said Ancelotti.

"I want to thank my players who did a fantastic job without the African players.

"We could have had some problems without the African players, but we did very well. They did a fantastic January.

“It's good we are back at the top. We have one more point with a game in hand on United and two points more than Arsenal.

"That's important because on Sunday United play Arsenal. Maybe we can improve our position on Saturday."