After serving a three - game ban, Nigeria international John Obi Mikel is expected to return to the Chelsea line - up on Boxing Day against Norwich in the 19th round of matches in the English Premier League.

The European champions face Norwich City and Everton in their next two games. And Mikel has admitted that the away games will be difficult.

''These are very tough away fixtures, Norwich have been doing really well lately, even though they lost at West Brom. It's going to be difficult so we need to be up for it if we want to win it.

''At the same time, we don't need anybody to tell us about how hard it is to play at Everton, it's always a difficult place to go for anybody. On their day they can beat any team at Goodison Park, and they're in good form too. They will both be tough, but if we do well we can get something out of them if we are on our game,'' says Mikel to the official website chelseafc.com

Mikel, who has been named in Nigeria's preliminary African Cup of Nations roster, must arrive the Super Eagles camp in Faro, Portugal latest January 4th.

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