Lampard, Ballack and Drogba fit to face Arsenal

Nothing but good news for Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti this week as his team confirm first position in the Champions League Group Stages, and the Chelsea injury list eases off in time for the crunch match against Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday.

Just last week it was assumed that that Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard would not be fit enough to face Arsenal, but the news today is that all three of them, plus Michael Ballack, will all now be able to play.

Didier Drogba broke a rib against Man Utd and was expected to be out for another fortnight, but he was fit enough to play against Porto last night.

Michael Ballack was injured while on international duty with Germany but yesterday managed to play over an hour as well, and will be fully fit for Sunday.

Ashley Cole has had a miraculous recovery from his fractured tibia. He was left on the bench last night but having resumed full training is fully expected to start against the Gunners.

Frank Lampard is the latest to recover early after his injury with the England squad was expected to keep him out for another week or two at least, but Carlo Ancelotti now thinks he will be ready this week.

“He has trained for the last two days and will train again on Thursday. We hope he will be fit,” said Ancelotti.

Lampard is the latest in a long line of Premiership players that have benefited from the “miracle cure” of placenta being massaged into the damaged muscles.

He flew to Serbia last week to see the controversial doctor Marijana Kovacevic, and yet again she seems to have been successful.