Ancelotti: Corner not turned yet

Carlo Ancelotti refused to get carried away with Chelsea's 7-0 FA Cup thrashing of Ipswich, admitting they needed a run of victories to emerge from their worst slump for almost 15 years.

The Blues went some way to lifting the gloom at Stamford Bridge as they began their defence of the trophy they have won for the past two seasons in emphatic fashion.

Ancelotti, who has twice been given votes of confidence by billionaire owner Roman Abramovich in the past fortnight, said: "We needed to have this kind of performance."

He added: "The result was good and we did a lot of things well in this game - the performance of the team, the strikers scoring again. We don't have to be excited. But, obviously, with this victory, our confidence will improve. We have to wait to say everything is okay."

Ancelotti's decision to continue last season's policy of fielding some youngsters in the early rounds of the cup did not backfire, with Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard scoring twice, Salomon Kalou also finding the net and Nicolas Anelka ending the goal drought that has coincided with Chelsea's two months of misery.

Chelsea toiled for the opening half-hour but once Kalou found the net, the floodgates opened.

"There were differences in the first 30 minutes of this game and the other 60," Ancelotti said.

"We were a bit worried, less confident in that first period. When we scored the first goal, everything was okay. But we have to play more games to say the bad moment has gone.''

Friday saw Ancelotti laugh off a lone protest calling for his head and today proved the Italian still had the backing of the vast majority of Chelsea fans, who chanted his name towards the end.

"It's very nice, obviously, to hear the fans like that. We all have to be close, and the fans showed fantastic support today," he said.