The champions looked certain to end their miserable four-match winless run in the league when Drogba stood over a stoppage-time penalty at Tottenham this afternoon.

But the striker's poor effort was saved by Heurelho Gomes as the game ended in a 1-1 draw that left Chelsea fourth, level on points with Manchester United, who have two games in hand.

Blues boss Ancelotti shrugged off Drogba's miss, claiming "it doesn't matter" because his side had played well enough to win today's match.

He said: "I think that we deserved to win; we were very close to winning.

"We missed a penalty but it doesn't matter.

"I think that we played well and I think that our bad moment is behind us."

Ancelotti also insisted it "doesn't matter" that the weekend's results had seen his side slip to fourth.

He added: "It would be a problem if you are in fourth at the end of the season."

Chelsea's performance was certainly an improvement to that served up in the past month, although there were signs of the defensive frailties they have shown in that time.

After a bright start, an awful lapse saw them fall behind to a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal and although they had plenty of chances to level, their equaliser was gifted to them when Gomes spilt Drogba's shot into his own net.

Ancelotti said: "We showed good confidence, we showed good football, we didn't lose confidence after the first half.

"There was a good reaction.

"We wanted to play more defensively and use the counter attack but, after Tottenham scored, we played differently and second half was really better.

"We put more strain, more pressure, more determination and the performance was good."

Drogba had been controversially left out of the starting line-up and Ancelotti revealed his star striker was far from happy with the decision.

"He was not happy obviously but he showed a good reaction in the second half," he said.

"He played a fantastic game and was very important for us."

Justifying Drogba's omission for Nicolas Anelka, the Italian added: "I wanted to play more counter-attacks; I wanted to use the speed on Anelka to create opportunities to score."

Today's game also witnessed the surprise return of Frank Lampard from the bench after three and a half months out injured.

"We spoke yesterday; he wanted to be involved in the squad, to start from the bench, and this is very good news for us," said Ancelotti, who revealed Lampard would play a friendly match on Thursday in order to be fit for next Sunday's clash with United.

Explaining why the midfielder did not take the stoppage-time penalty, he added: "Lampard was not able to shoot because he did not have a lot of confidence because he was out for a long time.

"Drogba took the responsibility to shoot."

The champions looked certain to end their miserable four-match winless run in the league when Drogba stood over a stoppage-time penalty at Tottenham this afternoon.

But the striker's poor effort was saved by Heurelho Gomes as the game ended in a 1-1 draw that left Chelsea fourth, level on points with Manchester United, who have two games in hand.

Blues boss Ancelotti shrugged off Drogba's miss, claiming "it doesn't matter" because his side had played well enough to win today's match.

He said: "I think that we deserved to win; we were very close to winning.

"We missed a penalty but it doesn't matter.

"I think that we played well and I think that our bad moment is behind us."

Ancelotti also insisted it "doesn't matter" that the weekend's results had seen his side slip to fourth.

He added: "It would be a problem if you are in fourth at the end of the season."

Chelsea's performance was certainly an improvement to that served up in the past month, although there were signs of the defensive frailties they have shown in that time.

After a bright start, an awful lapse saw them fall behind to a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal and although they had plenty of chances to level, their equaliser was gifted to them when Gomes spilt Drogba's shot into his own net.

Ancelotti said: "We showed good confidence, we showed good football, we didn't lose confidence after the first half.

"There was a good reaction.

"We wanted to play more defensively and use the counter attack but, after Tottenham scored, we played differently and second half was really better.

"We put more strain, more pressure, more determination and the performance was good."

Drogba had been controversially left out of the starting line-up and Ancelotti revealed his star striker was far from happy with the decision.

"He was not happy obviously but he showed a good reaction in the second half," he said.

"He played a fantastic game and was very important for us."

Justifying Drogba's omission for Nicolas Anelka, the Italian added: "I wanted to play more counter-attacks; I wanted to use the speed on Anelka to create opportunities to score."

Today's game also witnessed the surprise return of Frank Lampard from the bench after three and a half months out injured.

"We spoke yesterday; he wanted to be involved in the squad, to start from the bench, and this is very good news for us," said Ancelotti, who revealed Lampard would play a friendly match on Thursday in order to be fit for next Sunday's clash with United.

Explaining why the midfielder did not take the stoppage-time penalty, he added: "Lampard was not able to shoot because he did not have a lot of confidence because he was out for a long time.

"Drogba took the responsibility to shoot."