Kalou Expects Test

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

Setanta

Kalou expects test of bottle at Derby Salomon Kalou insists Saturday’s trip to Derby will be a real test of Chelsea’s championship mettle – live on Setanta Sports. The Blues will be expected to triumph comfortably at Pride Park against a Derby side that lost 5-0 to West Ham in their last outing. However, Kalou refuses to undermine the difficulty of picking up three points after an international break, and he admits all the pressure is on Chelsea on Saturday. “It will be a difficult game to play because it comes just after the international games,” Kalou said on Setanta Sports’ Friday Football Show. “A lot of players are coming back from international duty, and some are tired. “But it’s an important game, we will pull together and try to get the win. “Right now we are under pressure to have a good performance in every game.“The last one was a draw at home so now we need three points and we will fight for them on Saturday.” Kalou also opened his heart over the pain of having to put country before club to play in The African Cup of Nations. Chelsea stand to lose Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Kalou himself for a month in January, and the Ivory Coast international admits it was not an easy decision to leave The Blues in the lurch. “It’s a really difficult decision because you want to play for your team, but also your country needs you.“It’s a hard decision to go to The African Cup of Nations and let your team fight for important competitions."

[Elliott 7]

Worrying that he's not confident, but then maybe that just means no complacency.

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

He's probably looking at it from the point of only having 1 or 2 days to prepare for the game instead of the normal routine build up during the week.Either way, we should have more than enough to see off Derby