Hull City-Chelsea Preview

NEIL RICHARDS,

(AP) -- LONDON (SE) - New Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti will be looking to get off to a flying start as he bids to deliver the Premier League title back to the club's demanding Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich in his debut campaign.

The fixture computer has certainly been kind to the Italian, who took over when caretaker Guus Hiddink could not be persuaded to stay on beyond the end of last season. First up at Stamford Bridge are Hull City, one of the bookmakers' favourites for the drop following a spectacular collapse over the second-half of last season which saw them come within a point of being relegated from the top flight.

Blues do not face one of their Big Four rivals until October, by which time it is not inconceivable that they could have collected maximum points from their first seven games.

Chelsea have not strengthened in the manner many people might have expected in the summer, adding only Russia midfielder Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow, teenage striker Daniel Sturridge from Manchester City and back-up goalkeeper Ross Turnbull from relegated Middlesbrough.

"We will buy a player if it is a necessity, if it is not a necessity then we don't buy, because the players already here are very good," Ancelotti told the official Chelsea website.

By far the club's biggest piece of business, though, was persuading John Terry that his future lay at Stamford Bridge, the influential captain agonising over a move to Manchester City before deciding to stay put and then signing an improved contract.

Terry believes Chelsea and the side they beat on penalties to win the Community Shield on penalties last Sunday, reigning champions Manchester United, will again to the fore in the quest for honours.

"It will be close, as it has been for the last four or five years," he said. "We have been pushing them (United) closely and when we won it, they were pushing us, so it'll be a fight to the death.

"But I am sure that at the same time the Liverpools, Arsenals and possibly Manchester Citys will be pushing and upsetting a few good teams as well."

Having seen their side win just one of their final 22 Premier League matches last season, Hull fans will know how vital a victory is to erase the memory of that spectacular slide.

Few people will give them a prayer at Chelsea but they were impressive on the road at the big clubs last season, getting a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge, drawing 2-2 at Liverpool and beating Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

The summer has been a frustrating one for Phil Brown as he looked to strengthen his squad. He missed out on several high-profile targets including Michael Owen (who opted for Manchester United), Darren Bent and Fraizer Campbell (both now Sunderland).

Last week he finally managed to bring in some new blood, paying three million pounds to get Nigerian midfielder Seyi Olofinjana from Stoke City and signing United States striker Jozy Altidore on a season-long loan from Spanish club Villarreal.

"I'm over the moon at the fact we have at long last managed to get one or two players into the camp," Brown told the club's official website. "It has been a long hard slog and it has been a frustrating time for a number of clubs."

More new faces could be on the way. The Tigers called a press conference for Thursday afternoon when they were expected to unveil two more new signings, Republic of Ireland international winger Stephen Hunt from Reading and Algeria striker Kamel Ghilas from Celta Vigo.

A more ambitious move yet could still be on the cards, with Brown strongly linked with a club-record 12 million pounds move for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo.

Updated August 13, 2009