Chelsea vs Fulham: preview

Chelsea attempt to pick up from their form against Hull City in the Carling Cup for a key three points against their West London rivals Fulham. Fulham have only won once in the last 21 appearances between the two sides.

Chelsea, desperate for points, are welcoming back Didier Drogba, the striker who - when he plays well - Chelsea play well.

Grant said: "Didier will be back. You want all the players to be available but I am very happy he is the first to return out of our injured players."

Chelsea defeated Hull City 4-0 in midweek, but The Cottagers were also involved in Carling Cup but finished on the wrong end of 2-1 scoreline at home to struggling Bolton Wanderers.

New boss Avram Grant knows he is under pressure, and needs to pick up an important three points. Speaking of the impending game, Grant said, "I think we have a good base and I would like Chelsea to play with at least five players in the attack.

"You saw it against Hull, it was an open game, sometimes too open, and we need to keep the balance but we will follow the attacking combination and system that we used against Hull.

"I think the players have tried to do their best since the beginning of the season but sometimes it didn't go well and sometimes there is a problem you need to fix.

"They gave everything they could but if they didn't score there is something we need to do better and that's what we are trying to do."

Chelsea Squad: Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Ferreira, Terry, Ben-Haim, Alex, Essien, Belletti, A Cole, J Cole, Bridge, Shevchenko, Wright-Phillips, Kalou, Pizarro, Malouda, Sidwell, Sinclair.

Fulham Squad: Niemi, Warner, Keller, Baird, Stefanovic, Bocanegra, Hughes, Davis, Smertin, Murphy, Seol, Davies, Bouazza, Healy, Dempsey, Konchesky, Kamara, John, Kuqi.