Didier Drogba owners face an anxious wait ahead of Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge meet with Stoke this weekend. The striker has emerged a potential fitness doubt for Carlo Ancelotti’s side after tweaking his groin muscle as the second-half was about to kick-off at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Drogba, who has previously revealed that he is playing with a hernia problem, could not be withdrawn at that point as the Chelsea boss had already used his substitutions. Drogba completed the 90 minutes but was clearly hampered by the injury as Chelsea slumped to the damaging 2-1 defeat.

The Ivorian will now surely be monitored in training this week, with Ancelotti indicating in reports yesterday that it would be up to Drogba to dictate the role he will play in Chelsea’s remaining fixtures…

“It’s his decision…He doesn’t have a big problem. It’s more about controlling the situation.”

Fortunately Carlo Ancelotti is possibly the most open Premier League manager when it comes to revealing the availability of his players and even his lineup prior to matches. Even so, we’ve been deceived by Ancelotti’s comments previously when it comes to Drogba; the Chelsea boss previously kept the striker on the bench at Old Trafford, despite stating that he would start the vital league clash in his pre-match press conference.

While Drogba is clearly troubled by his current injury plight, his contribution to the Chelsea cause is still potentially substantial. A home game with Stoke would normally be a plum fixture that would have his Fantasy owners contemplating the armband rather than considering getting rid.

Drogba’s owners will therefore likely wait on definite news on the striker’s absence before making the decision to sell. Man City’s Carlos Tevez and perhaps Emmanuel Adebayor, look obvious temptations with a collision with the porous Arsenal defence this weekend, followed by a double fixture in gameweek 37.

Drogba remains the most popular striker in the Fantasy Premier League game with a huge 39% ownership.