Drogba's time at Chelsea could end

Chelsea may savour the 3-1 win over Southend in the FA Cup but the result could spell doom for striker Didier Drogba. Chelsea have denied rumours the Ivorian was involved in a furious row with manager Luiz Felipe Scolari after being dropped for the fixture but there have also been reports the forward tried, unsuccessfully, to engineer a move back to his former club Marseille.

Assistant manager Ray Wilkins was hardly convincing in his defence of the player.

He said: "It was just a selection policy of Felipe's that he didn't play. We've got a big squad with some exceptional players and he felt Anelka was the man to take to the field tonight.

"Didier is certainly a very valuable member of our staff. I don't know whether Felipe has met with Didier at all but it doesn't look like they are at breaking point to me, not from what I've seen."