Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has said that he was not giving a half-time team talk in the tunnel during the FA Cup match with Birmingham city.

Didier Drogba is one of the most influential members of the Chelsea squad. He has just returned to the Chelsea squad after spending time with his international team Ivory Coast at the 2012 African cup of nations.

As a result of his recent return from international football, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas decided to use Fernando Torres as the main striker. Didier Drogba was on the bench, but Andre Villas-Boas soon realised that he will not be able to progress into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup without the services of the Ivorian.

Chelsea were trailing at the break to a goal from Birmingham city early in the first half. As a result, Didier Drogba was brought on in place of Fernando Torres at the start of the second half. Prior to the players coming out onto the pitch, Didier Drogba was spotted giving a team talk to the players. This has sparked of rumours that it was indeed Didier Drogba who had given the half-time team talk in the dressing room. This has seriously undermined the authority of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea.

“I want to make things clear – the manager made the speech at half-time and after that I think he’s got some leaders in the team. We are here to help him. After that we were trying to bring the team up after half-time and nothing more. We did what the manager wanted us to do and apply what he was saying. I think people are making a big thing about nothing,” he said. Chelsea could only draw the match against Birmingham city, and they will be facing the FA Cup replay in the first week of March.