Essien eyes March return

Chelsea ace Michael Essien is making good progress from his knee injury and hopes to be back before the end of the season.

Essien has been out of action for the last two months since damaging ligaments while on international duty for Ghana, but he will be back in March just in time to help out with the push for honours at both home and abroad.

It was initially hoped he would be back in action at the start of the year but those hopes appear to have been dashed by the seriousness of the problem.

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has already said that having Essien back will be like having a new player available but he will have to wait another five months before he returns.