Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas was furious with ESPN over claims Didier Drogba gave their halftime team talk for the draw at Birmingham City. The Sunday Mirror says the beleaguered boss was forced to deny that substitute Drogba had delivered a morale-boosting team talk in the tunnel ­before the Blues reappeared for the second half.

Members of the ESPN crew claimed they saw Drogba addressing the struggling team with them losing 1-0 at the time.

A furious Villas-Boas said: "It's ­ridiculous for the TV station to say Didier was doing a team talk in the tunnel. I did an interview with them and if I had known they were saying this I would have refused."