Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has suffered a new injury blow in his attacking options ahead of the Premier League trip to Arsenal on 26 April after Didier Drogba revealed he has picked up an ankle injury.
Even though the 37-year-old Ivory Coast striker has played a peripheral role since his return to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2014, Mourinho has been forced to hand him starting roles in the last two victories over Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United, due to Diego Costa and Loic Remy being injured.
And while it is still unclear whether either the Spaniard of the France international will be ready for the London derby, Drogba has now revealed on his Twitter account that he is also injured.
The veteran striker, a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, has been forced to withdraw from featuring in a charity game to raise awareness of the fight against Ebola at Saint-Etienne on 20 April.
He wrote on Twitter: "Disappointed not to be able to play the #MAP2015 because of an ankle injury but still supporting #EbolaResponse."
Disappointed not to be able to play the #MAP2015 because of an ankle injury but still supporting #EbolaResponse: http://t.co/EjFWTDLiVr
— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) abril 20, 2015 While the length of Drogba's injury is uncertain, Mourinho hopes either Costa or Remy will be ready to lead the Chelsea attack in the trip to Arsenal.
When speaking ahead of the game against Manchester United, the Portuguese boss had claimed Remy had a 50% chance to play against manager Louis van Gaal's side but was eventually left out of the squad with academy starlet Dominic Solanke taking his place on the bench.
Meanwhile, Mourinho also said even though Costa was expected to be out of action for the remainder of April, the Spaniard was recovering better than expected and could be ready to face the Gunners.
On 17 April, he said: "Diego is progressing very well, I think he has a chance for the next weekend. Our target was for him to play the last four matches. Arsenal is the sixth from the end, so if he doesn't play against Arsenal or Leicester, it is not a problem because we were always focusing on the last four. But things are going so well he has a chance [to face Arsenal]. He's training, he starts training with the rest of the squad next week."
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