Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink is facing a defensive crisis ahead of his first game in charge against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Dutchman is in danger of being without key trio Ashley Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and Alex for the match against one of the club's rivals for a Champions League place.

Carvalho is still not back in training after a hamstring problem, while Cole is suspended after getting his fifth booking of the season at Watford on Saturday. Alex added to Hiddink's problems today by failing to train due to an ankle injury, which is still being assessed by club doctors.

It means Branislav Ivanovic is set to play alongside captain John Terry in central defence with Paulo Ferreira lining up at left-back.

Hiddink, meanwhile, promised fans at an open training session at Stamford Bridge today that he is determined to get the team playing entertaining football again.

Predecessor Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked last week after winning just four of his last 12 League games.

Hiddink said: "I'm trying to get entertainment in the team. I hope to make it a very good season. I will need your support and I will give everything to make the team work."

Significantly, the Dutchman paired strikers Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka together for an 11-a-side training match, implying they are fit to start at Villa Park. He was also seen having a lengthy chat with them about how to make their partnership work.

Drogba and Anelka were rarely used in tandem by Scolari, who preferred to play with a lone striker.

Failing to get the best out of his frontmen was one of reason Scolari was not a success at Chelsea but Michael Ballack believes the Brazilian's struggle with the English language was another factor. Scolari had a basic knowledge of English but found it difficult to get his message across to the squad.

Ballack was one of three players accused of getting Scolari fired after meeting with owner Roman Abramovich but the German says he is innocent and feels it was just simply because of results.

Ballack said: "He was a great coach and he wanted a lot but sometimes he wanted to explain much more than he could with his language. He put a lot of effort in the team but we didn't get the results. If you don't win, it's not an easy situation for everybody.

"If a team loses and is not playing well, it's the manager who pays mostly. In football it is always like this. We have to go on and improve and go back to our strengths. There is still a lot of quality in the dressing room."

Hiddink, who is in charge for the rest of the season while also fulfilling his role as Russia coach, should have no such problems as he can speak nine languages.

Ballack admits he is a huge fan of the 62-year-old and is confident he will make an impact despite having little time to work with the squad - then again he was a big fan of Scolari when the Brazilian joined last summer. Ballack added: "It's not easy for anybody but he's an experienced guy and we are an experienced team with experienced players. We want success and we know how it works normally.

"It shouldn't be a problem to fight and stay together. So we will work hard and see how it goes in the next weeks. I played against him in the 2002 World Cup and against Russia in the current qualifiers. He's a very strong coach and he's had a lot of success."

Hiddink followed up his first training session yesterday by watching the reserves beat Portsmouth 6-0. Winger Ricardo Quaresma, who is on loan from Inter Milan, proved his fitness ahead of the game against Villa by playing the full 90 minutes and scoring twices. But it was youngsters Miroslav Stoch and Franco di Santo that made a really big impression against an experienced back four, which included Younes Kaboul, Linvoy Primus and Lauren.

Di Santo, who scored two and set up two, and Stoch, have made a few appearances as substitutes for the first team this season but Hiddink hinted they may have a role to play for the rest of the campaign.

Hiddink said: "There are always promising youngsters and that is why you have to keep an eye on them. If they have the quality to come in, we will not hesitate to do so."