LONDON, England (AFP) — Chelsea will leave strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou out of their squad for today’s trip to Burnley following their Ivory Coast pair’s return from the African Nations Cup.

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti wants to give the duo more time to recover from the long journey from Angola, but insisted they were fit and ready to go.

“They need to work for some days and so will not able to play,” Ancelotti said. “They will play on Tuesday against Hull.

“Didier will stay here to train. He has come back very well, also Kalou. They are fit but they travelled yesterday and so we don’t want to take the risk for the next games.”

A win over Burnley would allow Chelsea to open up a four-point lead over Manchester United at the top of the table, 24 hours before United take on third-placed Arsenal at the Emirates.

Kalou said he had been keen to get straight back into action.

“I thought I had a good game for Chelsea against Fulham before we left and now I come back in good form,” he said.

Chelsea have not shown any signs of missing their African stars, with Nicolas Anelka in freescoring form in their absence, and Kalou acknowledged he now faces a fight for first-team chances.