Source: PA
Mikel fires warning to top-flight defences
Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel fears for defenders in the Barclays Premier League as the Blues prepare to restore normal service against Manchester City on Saturday.
The champions crashed out of the Carling Cup when losing 4-3 to Newcastle, with injuries to Salomon Kalou, Yossi Benayoun and Gael Kakuta compounding a miserable night for the Blues.
The trio are unlikely to be involved in the lunchtime clash against City at Eastlands and there has been speculation that Frank Lampard has suffered a further setback in his rehabilitation from hernia surgery and will also miss out.
Chelsea have secured five straight league wins over West Brom, Wigan, Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool but City will present them with a different type of challenge.
However, Mikel is warning that any defender facing Chelsea must be running scared after the Blues smashed in 21 goals in their opening five league games.
He said: "If I was a defender playing against Chelsea, I would be very scared because you don't know where we're going to come from - we have Ashley Cole bombing forward on the left side all the time. So it is hard to know what to expect when we have all these players bombing forward all the time. If you look at our front three, none of them have a static position, they are all moving around."
