Didier Drogba insists that Chelsea must make improvements if they are to retain their Premier League title despite an impressive 6-0 victory in their opening match.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men trashed West Brom to make a mockery of their poor pre-season form, as Drogba netted a hat-trick with Florent Malouda adding a brace and Frank Lampard also opening his account.

The Blues have now scored 21 goals in their last three home matches, but Drogba is under no illusions that plenty of tougher tests lie ahead if Ancelotti’s men are to remain the team to beat.

“It is important for us to keep playing the way we did last year, but also trying to improve because it is going to be harder,” the 32-year-old said.

“We are champions and this season is going to be really difficult.

“All of the other teams are improving in terms of bringing in new players.

“However, our team is really hungry.

“We may have not signed a lot of players, but we still have quality players and now we have Yossi (Benayoun) and Ramires too.”

Next-up for Chelsea is a trip to Wigan, who lost 4-0 at home to Blackpool yesterday, on Saturday 21st August. Wigan are 11.00 (Full Time Result) to repeat their win over the Blues of last season, while Chelsea are fancied at 1.22 to get the win and the draw is 6.00.

Drogba insisted: “It is too early to send a message – the only message it has sent out is to ourselves because it shows that although we are not yet fit, we can still play football.”

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti described yesterday’s result as “nothing special” and believes when everyone is fully fit, Chelsea can further improve.

“We had to give our players who were involved in the World Cup some extra holiday,” the Italian said.

“It was necessary for them to have a good recovery and we knew that we could not put them into the first game of pre-season.

“Against West Brom, they showed a good condition, maybe not the best, but now they have time to arrive at their best.”

Chelsea are 2.62 to win the Premier League 2010/11.

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Carlo Ancelotti played down Chelsea’s 6-0 opening day victory over West Brom and insisted that there is a lot more to come from the reigning Premier League champions.

A hat-trick from Didier Drogba, two from Florent Malouda and a goal from Frank Lampard wrapped-up the victory which Ancelotti later described as “nothing special”.

The Italian said: “We did our job, nothing special.

“This team can show this kind of play, scoring a lot of goals. We had a difficult pre-season, but now everything has come back to be OK.

“We played a good game with a lot of goals and I am happy.

“We kept a high tempo, but West Brom were in the game until the second goal, and then it was more easy because there was more space.”

Ancelotti added: “Players who were at the World Cup can improve their condition and in two weeks, we will be 100%.”

Drogba won the Golden Boot last season with 29 goals and he is on course to emulate that feat again this season.

“He did a fantastic job, not just because he scored, he worked really hard for the team,” said Ancelotti.

“It is very important to have this mentality from all our strikers.

“Last season he scored a lot of goals, and he has started very well, I think he can do the same again.”

West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo always felt it was going to be a daunting return to his former club.

The Italian said: “Playing the champions away on the first day of the season, you know it is going to be a tough day for you but I thought the scoreline was a bit harsh.

“There are not a lot of teams which come away from Stamford Bridge with much.

“We know we will have to learn very quickly, but on the upside, we will not be playing Chelsea every week.

“Not every team has the quality this one does.”

Chelsea are now 2.62 to win the Premier League 2010/11, while West Brom are 1.83 to be relegated.

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Florent Malouda insists Chelsea’s 6-0 thrashing of West Brom shows they are determined to improve on last year’s dominant domestic displays.

The 2009/10 double winners endured a tough pre-season but kicked off the defence of their Premier League campaign by hammering the newly-promoted Baggies with a Didier Drogba hat-trick, a brace from Malouda and one from Frank Lampard.

The French midfielder told ESPN: “We are champions and we have to improve what we did last season.

“We had a great record and scored a lot of goals but it’s a new season and we have to work harder and be even better than last year.

“It was not easy at the beginning because we had a difficult pre-season, to score early in the game was most difficult thing to do and after that we had to carry on to score more goals.”

Drogba, who claims he is feeling fitter than ever after a hernia operation in the summer, said:

“I’m really happy with the way we played, we had a difficult pre-season. We all came back at different times but we are winning and it is a good start.”

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said: “I am very happy because we played a good game, we showed good football. We were not happy about the four defeats in pre-season, but we started well and that is the most important thing.”

Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo told ESPN: “The second goal was a bad time, if we can go in at 1-0 there is still a chance for us, so we have to learn quickly.

“We know there is quality, so we will keep working on it and we will improve. We will pick the players up, this is a tough place to come.”

Carlo Ancelotti insists there will be no panic buys at Chelsea following their dismal build-up to the new season.

Blues boss Ancelotti watched his double winners beaten 3-1 by Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, their fourth consecutive defeat as they prepare for their defence of the Premier League.

Yossi Benayoun is the only senior player Chelsea have added to their squad this summer, while the arrival of Ramires is thought to be imminent.

Otherwise, Ancelotti is happy with the resources at his disposal, insisting recent results reflect only the lack of time he has had to work with his World Cup players since they returned to training.

And he laughed off the possibility of making further signings as a response to his side’s current form.

“Fortunately, it’s pre-season,” he said. “I think that there is time to come back to win.”

He added: “It was not a good pre-season for results. We lost four games but I think we did our best.

“We need for the players who came back the on July 26 to have more time to train.”

Ancelotti does not believe his World Cup players – such as John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba – will be fully match fit for another fortnight.

For that reason, he is grateful for this week’s international fixtures, which will give many of his players additional game time.

“The England players are very close to being fit,” he said.

“It’s good for them to play an international game. They could play 70 minutes without a problem.”

Despite appearing unconcerned about recent displays, Ancelotti accepts his players need to rediscover their form fast if they are not to be playing catch-up at the start of the season.

“I’m not worried but I think that we have to improve,” he said.

“We have to have more time in possession.”

Ancelotti felt his side played “too slowly” on Sunday and allowed United too much time on the ball.

Paul Scholes did most of the damage with a midfield masterclass which Ancelotti was able to appreciate but felt was helped by his own side’s lack of match sharpness.

“Scholes is a fantastic player; he played a very good game,” he said.

“Maybe we gave him more possibility to play well because we didn’t put strong pressure on him.

“When you are not fit 100%, it’s difficult to put strong pressure on during the game.

“But he showed fantastic touch, fantastic switch of play.

“I agree that he was the man of the match.”

Hilario will start in goal for Chelsea in Sunday’s Community Shield game against Manchester United at Wembley, with Didier Drogba on the bench.

Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed his starting XI for the Shield game would contain only one change from the side that lost their final pre-season friendly at Hamburg.

Hilario replaces Ross Turnbull, with the same outfield players from Wednesday night’s game taking to the field against United.

Blues boss Ancelotti revealed Didier Drogba would be on the bench, while number one Petr Cech, defender Alex (both calf) and full-back Jose Boswinga (knee) are all out.

Chelsea (from): Hilario, Turnbull, A Cole, Kalou, Drogba, Carvalho, Terry, Malouda, Lampard, Essien, Mikel, Benayoun, Anelka, Zhirkov, Kakuta, Sturridge, Ferreira, Bruma, Ivanovic.