Ancelotti will use the friendly against Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders, the first of four games in 11 days Stateside, as a tune-up for next week's pre-season tournament against Club America, Inter Milan and his former side AC Milan.

"For sure we will do substitutions," Ancelotti told Chelsea TV, having ruled out his recently-returned African contingent from the Seattle game.

"The African players... have to improve the training and physical condition, but after (that) the Africans will play.

"The first match against Seattle we change, we change, we change."

Ancelotti will use the players that reported back for the start of pre-season on July 6, including John Terry, despite the England captain being the subject of a concerted bid for his services from Manchester City.

Midfielders Joe Cole and new signing Yuri Zhirkov did not make the trip, Cole following knee surgery while the Russian will join the tour at a later stage.

Other new signings Ross Turnbull and Daniel Sturridge are in line for their club debuts and trained with the rest of the squad at the training facilities of NFL team the Seattle Seahawks, where Terry, Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack received some pointers on gridiron from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

"They are all in good condition," Ancelotti said of his squad.

"We want to improve our physical condition and quality of play. This game we will try something different and this is our objective.

"The games are the most important training. We will have to improve the condition, quality of the play, find the concentration to prepare a game, and for this we arrive at the right moment."

With Saturday's game set to be played in front of a near sell-out 65,000-plus crowd at Seattle'sQwest Field, Chelsea will face some familiar faces in a high-flying Sounders line-up captained by former Arsenal and West Ham star Freddie Ljungberg and anchored by ex-Tottenham and Fulham goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Ljungberg says he would rather stay in Major League Soccer than take up offers of a return to Europe.

The Swedish attacking midfielder, who spent nine years at Arsenal and won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups, is enjoying life in his first season with the MLS new boys, with whom he has signed a two-year deal.

Most MLS expansion clubs, new additions to the US professional league, struggle in their inaugural season but Ljungberg, signed from West Ham after a season at Upton Park last autumn as a 'Designated Player' outside the strict MLS salary cap, has led the Sounders into second place in the Western Conference. They are three points behind Houston Dynamo, at the halfway point in the campaign.

Despite being linked with a swift return to the major European leagues, 32-year-old Ljungberg insists his future lies in the Pacific Northwest having scored twice in 13 games and leading his team in assists.

"I'm so happy here in Seattle and that's why I want to stay for the years that I'm here," he said.

"Of course it's nice that the big clubs want me to go back (to Europe) again but it feels nice here in America.

"The club is great, the players are great, the fans are great, it's all good."

Ljungberg has been a popular addition to American soccer and was one of the leading vote-winners in polling for next week's MLS All-Star Game against Everton in Salt Lake City, yet he knows Seattle face a stiff test of their credentials this weekend against a Chelsea team eager to impress new manager Ancelotti.

"It's great, especially for the younger players who have never played a big club before," Ljungberg said.

"Maybe there are some things you can do, some dribbles or something, that you can get away with in MLS but against the top teams like Chelsea maybe it doesn't work and they need to rethink things.

"That's the greatest lesson they could ever have and then for the fans and everyone it will be great to come and see Chelsea. That's why they're here, why I'm here, we want soccer to grow in America and get the interest up.

"It's going to be a nice day I think."