• Premier League

Drogba adds to Chelsea injury concerns

Didier Drogba has added to Chelsea's injury concerns ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash at Manchester United by admitting that he is still not fully fit.

Drogba had been out for almost a month with an ankle injury before making his return as a late substitute in Saturday's 2-1 win at Crystal Palace. He then replaced Loic Remy early on in Tuesday's 6-0 Champions League win over Maribor.

With Remy, who picked up a groin strain while scoring the first goal, and first-choice centre-forward Diego Costa returning from the international break struggling with a hamstring problem, it leaves Drogba as the only fit centre-forward headed into the game at Old Trafford.

• Didier Drogba to score first against Man Utd on Sunday at 13/2 with bet365*
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• *All odds correct at time of publishing.

"It's up to the manager to decide who's going to start," Drogba told the Daily Mirror. "But if you were a player, how would you feel if they say, 'You can play at Old Trafford'? You'd be happy.

"I'm not fully fit yet, but these kind of games helps me to improve.

"We're doing a great job and to be able to enjoy these kind of moments is fantastic. We are lucky, and if I play I will feel lucky one more time."

Unbeaten league leaders Chelsea are currently 10 points above sixth-placed United, who drew 2-2 at West Bromwich Albion in their last match. But Drogba, who scored the winner against United in the 2007 FA Cup final, insists that Louis van Gaal's team represent a stern test for the London side.

"United are a threat," he said. "We need to go there with our strength and our belief but also we have to know that they are a good team."

"I have come back to a different Chelsea. We have different strengths, different qualities but we are still as strong and as good as the previous sides.

"Chelsea will always be at this level because of what the players before us created, the habit of wining trophies, winning big games and being in the last four and the finals.

"This is a good habit, and so even when we retire I think Chelsea will continue this because this is a kind of legacy.

"Maybe now it is United who need to learn to catch up with us - the other way round from when I first came to the club. But that's why I say this club is very special, because in our first season together, we had to win. I don't know if it's like that at other clubs but we had to win.

"We had big expectations from the start. That's the legacy I'm talking about. You have to win at this club."

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