Chelsea charged over Essien row

The Football Association has charged Chelsea with failing to control their players at the end of the win at Derby.

Led by skipper John Terry, they confronted referee Andre Marriner after he sent off Michael Essien for pushing Derby striker Kenny Miller in the face.

Chelsea have until 12 December to respond, while midfielder Essien must serve a three-match suspension.

He will miss games against Sunderland, West Ham and leaders Arsenal after his appeal was turned down by the FA.

Chelsea insisted the Ghana star had been harshly treated.

Defender Ashley Cole said: "From what I saw, it did not look like he really got him.

"He does that every day in training. It is just the way he is. He does not mean to hurt anyone. He just plays hard. We all know how strong he is and he is not a nasty player.

"It is a big blow to lose him for a suspension now, because we have got a lot of tough games coming up and it is going to be tough without him."

The Londoners were fined �30,000, severely censured and warned as to their future conduct after admitting a similar charge following the 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on 23 September.

Assistant first-team coach Steve Clarke was given a suspended fine of �5,000 after he admitted a charge of using abusive and/or insulting words towards the match officials at the end of the same game

Chelsea's players were angered by the sending-off of Mikel Jon Obi for a challenge on Patrice Evra.

Source: BBC Sport