Chelsea ace Didier Drogba is happy to have taken on a bigger leadership role this season.

Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti admits he's sought the influence of Drogba inside the dressing room this term.

"You can be a leader on the pitch, you can be a leader in the dressing room," Drogba told chelseafc.com.

"There are different kinds of leadership and maybe I do speak when I feel it is important to. When you speak, after that you have to go out on the pitch and show and prove it. That is how people respect you and I think that is how you become a leader.

"When you speak and then you act, that is what gives you more courage and credibility.

{When I feel it I do it but the good thing is I am not the only one. When I speak, JT (John Terry) or Lamps (Frank Lampard) or Bally (Michael Ballack) or other players are really going in the same direction. That is why sometimes when we have a difficult first half we come back and we try to be stronger."