Drogba has been sidelined with a knee injury suffered against CFR Cluj in the Champions League on October 1 and has been forced to watch Nicolas Anelka seize his chance to become the club's main goalscorer.

Anelka has scored 11 goals so far this season but may be rested or moved out to the flanks to accommodate Drogba in tomorrow's fourth round tie against the promotion-chasing Coca-Cola Championship side.

"Hopefully Didier faces quite a fight to get back into the side because that's what being at a big club is all about," said Chelsea assistant coach Ray Wilkins.

"Didier trained very well yesterday and today so he's back in the squad. That's very pleasant from our situation.

"We do have Nicolas in fantastic form, so with Didier breathing down his neck to have a game it is lovely.

"I am sure there is a very healthy rivalry between the two guys as to who will score the most goals and I do think they can play together.

"At the moment Felipe is managing to get the best out of Nic. The player has worked extremely hard to get himself in this situation so we must give him a lot of respect for what he's done.

"I think Nic has had a few arms round the shoulder from Felipe, a few chats and he's been told just exactly what's required of him.

"There are a lot of players you have to treat differently. It is a skill of the manager to select the right people and to get the right response from them.

"Nic has different attributes to Didier. His pace can take him beyond defenders in a flash. If you were to blend the two of them together you would have the best striker in world football.

"Six or seven of our regulars won't play tomorrow night but they will be involved.

"We've done exceptionally well over the last couple of years in the Carling Cup and the boys have been to Felipe and expressed the fact they don't want to be left out and want to play in every game.

"That is an extremely positive attitude to take and I am delighted because it shows there is this winning mentality in the club."

Chelsea will still be without England midfielder Joe Cole and the game will come too early for Michael Ballack.

"We are going to have to wait and see on Joe," Wilkins added. "He has got a couple of little niggles that he has been carrying for a couple of weeks.

"Michael Ballack has joined the group and is doing very well. He is back in the fold but the weekend is more likely for him."

Wilkins was reluctant to dwell on his public spat with Blackburn manager Paul Ince at the weekend, when Ince was outraged by comments that Blackburn were an 'over-physical' side.

The pair were involved in a verbal confrontation about the issue at the end of Chelsea's 2-0 victory at Ewood Park.

When asked if Ince would be on his Christmas card list, Wilkins replied: "He will be quite close to the top of it. We had a discussion after the game, that was all it was.

"As far as I am concerned, if we speak about Paul and what happened on Sunday too much then we are paying Burnley a disservice and I would sooner talk about Burnley rather than our discussion on Sunday.

"We have prepared for Burnley as we would for a Premier League side. It is important for us.

"We must pay them the utmost respect and impose our Premier League status on them when they come and play. It will be up to us to make sure they do most of the defending."