9 Aug 2010

Ancelotti shrugs off Chelsea's poor pre-season form

6:39 pm on 9 August 2010

Chelsea's coach Carlo Ancelotti insists poor form in pre-season won't have any effect on their defence of the Premier League title.

Ancelotti's side go into Sunday's league opener against West Bromwich Albion on the back of four successive defeats after a 3-1 loss to Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley.

Since winning their first pre-season match against Crystal Palace, the Blues have lost to Ajax, Eintract Frankfurt, Hamburg and now United.

Although some of those losses didn't feature Chelsea's top players Ancelotti was able to send out a virtually full-strength team against United and they still came unstuck.

However Ancelott's confident they will be up to full speed once World Cup players, such as Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard, reach full fitness after their late return to training.