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**Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti says Wayne Rooney’s absence may act as a spur for Manchester United in Saturday’s game between the two title-chasing sides.**Rooney’s ankle injury means he will miss the crunch Premier League clash at Old Trafford, which sees second-placed Chelsea take on leaders United.
“Sometimes a team can give more than 100% when a very important player is out,” said Ancelotti.
“They have the experience and the players to support the loss of Rooney.”
United announced on Thursday that the ligament damage suffered by Rooney in the team’s Champions League quarter-final first leg defeat at Bayern Munich was “minor”.
Experts believe such an injury should only sideline the striker for three to four weeks, which includes Saturday’s match at Old Trafford.
We will have a very good chance because our moment is good. We are fit and our confidence has improved after wins against Portsmouth and Aston Villa
The loss of the 24-year-old, who has scored 34 goals this season, is a major blow for United, and Chelsea’s Italian boss said his team had to use his absence to their advantage in what could provide the final momentum shift in a fascinating end-of-season title tussle.
Ancelotti said: "Everyone knows how Wayne Rooney is important for this team, he is a fantastic player. He has had a fantastic season but his injury could be an advantage for us.
"We want to keep control of the game and to do this in Old Trafford is not easy. But we will try. Saturday is a very important game because we play a fantastic team who are top of the league now but I have always said the title will be decided at the end of the season.
"We will have a very good chance because we are fit and our confidence has improved after wins against Portsmouth and Aston Villa. We want to do our best. The destiny after the game will be with the winners, but nothing will be decided.
“If we are able to win, it is better for us. A draw is not a bad result because there are a lot of games and everyone of them is very important. But it is very difficult to win at Old Trafford. It is a fantastic stadium for me also, not only for Sir Alex. I won the Champions League there in 2003 and that is the best memory for me in my career.”
Ancelotti has been boosted by the return to fitness of Drogba, who missed two days’ training with a minor groin problem.
“Drogba was out but trained very good today,” said Ancelotti. “We have trained very well this week. The team is fit. He is a very important player. He has scored 30 goals. The other strikers did a great job against Villa without him, but he is very important to us.”
Ancelotti’s star midfielder John Mikel Obi says the Blues must take revenge on United for two heavy defeats at Old Trafford in the past two seasons in the league.
Mikel said: "It’s about time we went up there and won again because we can do it. We can go there, play good football and win the game. It depends on how we come out to play and fight because it’s going to be really difficult but we’re ready for it. Hopefully this time it will go our way.
"We have made it clear that we need to win every match and every game we play is a big one but because of where we are in the league, it looks like we’re going to have to win it.
"We have got a very difficult schedule for the rest of the season and it has come to the stage where every point is very important but we have to think about Saturday for now."This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.