Chelsea to go easy on recovering Drogba

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Drogba, who returned to action earlier this month following summer knee surgery, made his first Premier League start of the season as Chelsea claimed a 2-0 win at Stoke.

The Ivory Coast striker struggled to make an impact before being replaced in the 72nd minutes and assistant manager Ray Wilkins admitted Drogba needs time to rediscover his form and fitness.

Wilkins said: "Didier put in a fair stint of work. That was a tough afternoon for him, playing against two big guys at the back.

"It was extremely physical but he worked very hard. We can't ask for much more than that and it's good that he came through.

"We've seen lots of players, like Ronaldo at Manchester United, where Sir Alex Ferguson has given him 60 or 65 minutes. So we will just have to treat Didier with kid gloves.

"You'll soon know when he is up to full speed because he's a pretty awesome character when he's in full flow. He's not quite there yet."

Jose Bosingwa's first-half strike — his first for Chelsea — opened the scoring and substitute Nicolas Anelka snuffed out a second-half Stoke fightback when he scored his fourth goal of the season.

Anelka has still to find his best form since singing from Bolton in January but Wilkins backed the striker, saying: "I thought Nic was first-class when he came on and that was the best I've seen him play for us for a while. I thought he was outstanding. His movement was fantastic."