Didier Drogba To Be 'Pushed To The Limit' For Manchester United Game

Didier Drogba has been slated to a return to the first team by Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford on September 18th following the concussion he suffered against Norwich City two weeks ago. Drogba, of course, was knocked out cold by a challenge from Canaries goalkeeper John Ruddy, and after an injury like that will have to be cleared by the medical team before he returns to full training, let alone a match. This hasn't happened yet, but Andre Villas-Boas is optimistic that he'll be declared fit soon:

He has to be authorised medically to make his full return to training. We just have to make sure that he's fully recovered before he comes back to training because that's the requirement you have to do neurologically. Let's push it to the limit to try for him to be available for Manchester United.

-Source: BBC.

Honestly, I don't like the idea of pushing a player who's suffered a head injury that severe to return to training/match action particularly fast, especially when he's no longer vital to success. I'm really wary of how bad concussions can be - some players don't really ever recover from them, so my hope is that Chelsea treat Drogba as though he's a particularly precious glass vase. Pushing it to the limit is dangerous language to use as far as concussion is concerned, so let's hope that the medical staff aren't pressured to release the striker before he's ready.

Being Drogba-less for the weekend, of course, implies a 4-3-3, presumably with a forward line of Juan Mata, Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge, athough I wouldn't be shocked if Nicolas Anelka ends up making the start on the right, since Sturridge hasn't played at all so far this season thanks to a red card suspension.