LONDON - CHELSEA manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has told Michael Ballack age will be no barrier if the German wants to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge.

Ballack's current contract expires at the end of the season and Chelsea are yet to open talks over an extension.

The 32-year-old midfielder has endured an injury-hit two seasons with the Premier League club, but Scolari insists he would be delighted to continue working with the Germany star.

The Blues have an option to extend the deal by another two years if both parties are happy with the terms and talks are likely to start in the new year.

'He is a player who is very professional and who I like to work with,' Scolari said.

'He has a German style, direct. I like that. In the future we will see what will happen with Chelsea but his age is no problem because he is young and plays very well.

'If Chelsea can agree a deal it is fantastic for me but we have not had a conversation about this yet.' Scolari's league leaders face struggling Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Saturday without suspended Ivorian striker Didier Drogba.

But the Brazilian coach revealed Joe and Ashley Cole are both ready to return following injury and midfielder Frank Lampard should be fit after recovering from the rib problem that kept him out of England's win over Germany in midweek.

'I have received all the players back in good condition apart from Deco, Jose Bosingwa and Paulo Ferreira,' Scolari said. 'They arrived back at 6pm (2am Singapore time) on Thursday, so training was impossible.

'They will do a little training today for tomorrow. Frank's injury is better. He started to train on Thursday and he is in good condition for tomorrow's game.

'It is the time for Didier to train and work hard on his knee and ankle with the fitness coach. We have lost Didier but when he comes back, he will be better than before.' After going 86 games undefeated in the league at home, Chelsea have lost to Liverpool and then Burnley in the League Cup this season, but Scolari is convinced the Bridge remains as much of a fortress as ever 'Look, we have lost three games and afterwards we played well,' he said.

'We have very good professionals here and we discuss games whenever we win, lose or draw.

'We have a focus for the Premier League. After the games that we lost, we show to the players what happened and why we lost.

'They understand and try to change the situation in the next game. If we want to win the Premier League we need 85 percent of the points at home or away. We have a good balance and the players know this.' -- AFP