Branislav Ivanovic rues number of games

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has complained about the number of fixtures that his team have played in the last few months.

The Blues, who beat Sparta Prague 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, host Brentford in an FA Cup fourth-round replay on Sunday.

"We have had a lot of games," Ivanovic told reporters.

"We have played every three days for the last four months. This has made it difficult. Sometimes you're not recovered and don't have a big enough squad.

"All these things affect results, but you have to be stronger. Now we have some time, we can recover and play our games with a better performance."

Chelsea are currently 16 points behind leaders Manchester United in the Premier League table.