Abramovich ready to stick with Ancelotti

Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich has broken off from preparing for a lavish New Year's Eve party in the Caribbean to reiterate to the Chelsea board that he intends to stick with Carlo Ancelotti as the club's manager to end the slump against Bolton Wanderers at Stamford.

No discussion was taken over Ancelotti's future in the board discussion that was held in the wake of Monday's crushing 3-1 defeat away to Arsenal to canvass opinion on the state of the team and Ancelotti's own performance.

Those talks continued on Tuesday and messages have been relayed to Ancelotti that Abramovich has not changed from the position he laid out to the Italian when the pair met for two hours in London in the wake of the Champions League defeat to Marseille this month, The Telegraph reports.

Abramovich insisted that he not only wanted Ancelotti to carry on with his duties, but also accepted that he needed to support him in the transfer market and, it is understood, also acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the manner of the sacking of former assistant manager Ray Wilkins.

The Russian billionaire is now gearing up to attend Friday's party at his estate in St Barts but he will probably watch the match and will receive a briefing from his trusted lieutenant, and key Chelsea director, Eugene Tenenbaum.

Abramovich is not expected to attend Wednesday night's home match against Bolton Wanderers as he gets ready for Friday's party at his estate in St Barts but he will probably watch the match and will receive a briefing from his trusted lieutenant, and key Chelsea director, Eugene Tenenbaum.