Chelsea 2 - 1 Fullham

Another tough game, this time at home to Fulham - who'd have thought at the start of the season that Birmingham and Fulham would be tough Xmas games !!. The Drog gets to stay an extra day before going off to the African Nations so he starts alongside Kalou. Joe Cole is at the top of the diamond; Zirkov, Rickey and Ferreira come in for Ash, Alex and Bran. Kakuta is on the bench.

Within 4mins the old defensive frailties are exploited as a loose ball in the box falls to Gera who swivels and then slots home past Cech. A disastrous start for the Blues and now Fulham can sit back, crowd the centre and protect a lead. Joe Cole breaks sharply through the middle on 10mins and feeds the Drog but he shoots tamely at Schwarzer. All the pressure is coming from the Blues but Fulham are really well organised and they're closing down brilliantly. The Blues look a nervous outfit and Ballack is having "a mare" again. On the break, Fulham still look dangerous and on 33mins, Dempsey forces Cech into a good save. John Pantsil's got the measure of the Drog who's moaning and going down even more that usual. The boo's are ringing out at the Bridge and rightly so as a thoroughly disappointing the half ends 0-1. Carlo's got a lot to do and Jose, who's in the crowd today on a scouting mission, will be quietly confident.

No changes at half time and this is a big 45mins coming up as defeat today will open the door to Man U and the chasing pack. Rickey almost gifts Fulham a 2nd as he opts to chest back to Cech and lets in Zamora but luckily Cech is quick enough and stays big. The Blues are pressing and Fulham are trowing bodies into tackles and blocks. Kalou finally gets to the dead-ball line and pulls a back a cross but the shot is blocked. On 58mins Drogba hits one on the turn but its palmed away by Schwarzer for a comfortable save. Wave after wave of Chelsea attack is getting snuffed out by desperate though effective Fulham defending. Bran comes on for Ferreira in a straight swap - strange call - but after 10 more mins Carlo goes for a more attacking move by bringing on Sturridge for the Jedi with 20mins remaining. Finally a decent cross from Bran, after so many this half that couldn't even beat the 1st man, reaches the far post and the Drog heads home the equalizer. Within 2mins its 2-1 as Kalou crosses to Sturridge whose shot from a narrow angle is parried by Schwarzer but the ball bobbles in off Smalling. Straight up the other end and Fulham nearly equalize as Cech flaps at a Duff corner but the header goes just over - we just cannot defend balls into the box and Cech doesn't know whether to come or stick. Zirkov is replaced by Ash with 7mins to go as Kalou feeds Drogba but he drags his shot wide. As 4mins of added time goes up, the Drog feeds Kalou whose shot canons of the crossbar. Fulham will play worse than this and win away games but on a very nervy day the Blues scrape 3 desparate points

Come on u Blues !!!

Birminham City 0 - 0 Chelsea

After disappointing performances against Portsmouth, where we only just managed a win, and West Ham where we were lucky to get a draw, it was off to St Andrews for a tricky Boxing Day away tie against an in form Birmingham City. Sturridge starts for the injured Anelka, the Drog is making his last appearance before African Nations duty and Belletti comes in for Ballack.

Updates from my Twitter feed

• The frame of the Brum goal is still shaking from a thunderous Alex free kick but an open, even end2end 1st half ends 0-0 at St Andrews

• An hour gone and Cech saves a superb curling free kick from Larson to keep this open and enthralling encounter at 0-0

• Lamps is off and Joe Cole is on for final 10mins - big call from Carlo. Even tho Brum have been disciplined & dangerous, 3 points was a must

• Chelsea are down to 10men as Malouda is sent off for a stupid 2nd yellow card - there's 6mins of added time after an injury to Joe Hart

• So it's 2pts dropped in a game where 3 were required. This is not premiership winning form and we'll be luck to be 3rd by end Jan at this rate.

The Blues had the best of the 1st half chances, though Brum had a goal disallowed for offside in the 1st half, and Joe Hart was forced into two stunning saved from Sturridge and Lamps. Alex also crashed a 35yrd rocket of a free kick off the bar inst the bar, while Sturridge poked a good cross by the Drog just wide. The second half was more of the same with the Blues creating but failing to convert the better of the chances. It was definately 2 points dropped

Read the Sky match report is here

Now we face another difficult tie at home to Fulham on Monday - come on you Blues !!!

Chelsea 3 - 3 Everton

The Blues play hosts to Everton with Ballack coming in for the injured Essien as Jedi keeps the holding role and Joe Cole is in at the head of the diamond.

A bright start from the Blues and within 3mins a good trough ball from Ballack finds the Drog but his shot squirms wide. Everton are getting back into this and on 11mins a floated free kick from the right comes off JT's head, hits the post and then go in as it bounces off the back of Cech. Its 0-1 to Everton but their lead lasts just 5mins as Ricky dispossess Saha in the centre and feeds Lamps whose layoff releases the Drog and his superb strike levels the game. The pressure is building on Everton now and on 22mins we're ahead as a corner from Lamps is not cleared and after a few bobbles the ball breaks to Anelka who pokes home. Its 2-1 and a great response from the blues. Another Baines free kick is not dealt with on 30mins but this time Cech easily collects. The humour is coming from Jo who goes down under almost every tackle like a sack of spuds and clearly wants to be taken off. He finally gets his way in injury time but his replacement - Yakubu - the gets on the end of another goalmouth scramble, this time from an Everton long throw, and pokes an equalizer past Cech. Carlo will be fuming.

The Blues have got a lot to do in this second half and get off to a good start with the Drog and Joe Cole working early openings. The pressure pays off just before the hour mark as Drogba guides home a cushioned volley to make it 3-2 from an Ivanovich cross. Within 2mins though it's another disaster in the Blues 6 yards box as Chelsea defend a fee kick way too deep and Drogbas headed clearance bounces back in past Cech off Sahar - its 3-3. Ballack nearly restores the lead from a free kick on 75mins which draws a good save from Howard and 2 more chances that fall to Ivanovich and Cole go begging. Cole is replaced by Malouda and Chelsea continue to press but time is running out as Carlo prepares to introduce Borini for the final 3mins but it makes little difference as Ballack drags the final chance wide and the Blues drop points again.

This is a major setback (even accepting the comedy of errors) and we're left hoping that Villa can do us a favour as they take on Man U

More from Davy Knowles

I blogged earlier about Davy Knowles - a young bluesman from the Isle of Man who just seems to be rippin up the blues scene at the moment. The more I hear him the more I'm reminded of a young Rory Gallagher

Here's another clip, this time its the title cut from his latest album "Coming up for Air"

Its been a tough few weeks ...

.... for the Blues since the 0-3 thumping of Arsenal.

A game that was essentially men against boys and underlined the Blues title credentials has been followed by two draws and a defeat - albeit two of these games were a Carling Cup tie against Blackburn that ened 3-3 (but resulted in a 4-3 defeat on penalties) and a meaning less last CL game against Apoel Nicosia that ended 2-2. However, sandwiched in between was a 2-1 defeat to the premierships new moneybags - Man City - which was a far more worrying slip up as it allowed Man U to close the gap to just two points. Whilst some people will bemoan Cechs positioning for the Tevez free kick or insist that Lamps should have buried the penalty awarded in the last 10mins, the reality was that we were second best all over the part in that game and now minds have top be refocused on Saturdays home game against Everton.