Joe cole" back to work"

Another weekend and another win in a professional, structured and powerful manner.

The fact that Spurs were swatted away in the end with what looked like minimal effort, shouldn't overshadow the fact that the north Londoners have been considered by many to be among the most likely to break into the top four this season.

Just as Manchester United beat those other pretenders to the elite, their neighbours Manchester City, 'the top four club' now looks like it will be harder to get in to than it would be for me to gatecrash a Mayfair private member club wearing jeans and a Chelsea home shirt.

The difference was that while Chelsea strolled in at the end of the game, United only scraped by with a goal in extra time, or was it injury time or indeed a hole in the space-time continuum? Even if it was a faulty second hand on the referee's watch that annoyed Mark Hughes, it was three points by the skin of their teeth in their derby, compared with Chelsea's a few hours later.

Once again two players had to be mentioned above all others down at the Bridge, Didier Drogba for scoring yet again and of course Ashley Cole. He is without even the slightest shadow of a doubt, currently the best left full-back in world, except that he seems to spend increasingly less time each week in his own half. If we rewind back a few months we were considering the debate about lack of width in the team. As we have gone along in the first few games, Ashley, and of course Bosingwa on the other side have given a pretty clear answer to that concern.

There is of course the added bonus of Joe Cole coming back, with any luck against QPR tomorrow as well as Yury Zhirkov; both will provide more width again when utilised. They may however need a little time and a few games to get fully match fit and confident after their injuries. I had Joe's one myself and it does take a few weeks to truly believe that a 50/50 challenge will not tear it again. It should not however recur and he will certainly be welcomed back for the options he gives us of something different.

As for Zhirkov, if he plays his normal style on that left hand side and Ashley Cole doesn't change his current perpetual motion attitude, I reckon the groundsmen are going to have to hose the grass even before half time to keep it from catching fire. Between them there is so much energy, in fact I don't know anyone currently playing who has the same energy levels as either player. Writing as a former attacking right sided wide midfielder, the idea of playing against both of them, without the aid of oxygen, would be unthinkable.

The return of Joe and Yury from injury does once again focus the mind on the size of the Chelsea squad and it isn't huge. For this reason and for one of the few times I can ever really remember feeling this, I wouldn't blame the manager if he sent out something close to a reserve side against QPR. It is upsetting to treat a competition with what looks like disdain, but you could reasonably argue that Arsenal and Manchester United have treated the Carling Cup as a reserve team cup for years anyway.

Injuries are a certainty this season, as are suspensions and the loss of players for the African Cup of Nations. Add on top off this the possibility of a transfer ban and Chelsea's top players simply might not be able to give 100 per cent application in all the competitions without risking more injuries and burn out.

I have no insight into the manager's thoughts at the moment, but in Italy there is no real equivalent to tomorrow nights competition, certainly none that has the same importance as the 'League' Cup certainly used to have and in many ways still does have in England. So where he gauges the importance of this one is hard to tell, we will find out.

Carlo Ancelotti will make his decision with one eye on what else is on his plate, though as a player I know I would always have wanted to play in every game and never had any rests. I suspect players like Frank Lampard and John Terry also have to be ordered to sit out against their will. Now I am older and hopefully wiser, and not just more cynical, I realise that sometimes the players themselves do not always know what is best for them, Carlo however probably does.

Last week's quiz question was how many points had Chelsea dropped in the last 54. The answer was five, (not four as quite a few suggested) two points dropped v Everton after drawing with them and three points shipped to Spurs, although the lads made up for that at the weekend of course.

By:Pat Nevin