This little local difficulty was useless as preparation for facing Barcelona, like limbering up for an assault on Everest by going for a stroll in the park or warming up for the Ashes with a few games of Twenty20. Then again . . .

Guus Hiddink has been making the best of a bad job since walking into a disillusioned dressing-room in February, however, so he was still able to absorb some lessons even after what was little more than a glorified training session. The most important was somewhat contradictory.

The Chelsea interim manager will have been delighted at the growing evidence that Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka can form an effective strike partnership, but will surely have concluded that he cannot risk starting them in harness against Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, despite both scoring in the same game for the first time this season.

Hiddink chose the match before the one that will define his short reign to switch to a 4-4-2 formation for the first time, a ploy that produced mixed results. It brought immediate success when, after a wonderful first-touch move, Drogba passed for Anelka to open the scoring in the first minute. However, the way in which the home side were carved open by Danny Murphy for Erik Nevland to equalise three minutes later also revealed its deficiencies.

If Murphy is capable of taking advantage of the presence of a single holding midfield player with one searching through-ball, it does not bear thinking about what Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta would be able to do, which is why Hiddink will revert to the 4-2-3-1 system that has served him well. Only if Chelsea are desperately searching for a goal will he push two strikers up front, as he came close to confirming.

“Of course I was thinking of the opposition this week,” Hiddink said. “We have practised a little bit and we used this opportunity, but I like the team to see what the possibilities are.

“I think about different formations and like to have a flexible team. I don’t want them getting surprised that we have two strikers playing together and asking me, ‘How do we do that?’ We have to use some principles and practice on that. It will be a difficult game, let’s be honest. A negative scenario could happen and I don’t want them panicking if we decided to use a different system.”

The team that emerged after half-time looked far more solid, with Michael Ballack adding some muscle to central midfield, but, with Anelka and Florent Malouda attacking down the flanks, Chelsea still offered plenty going forward.

Malouda continued his upsurge in form by restoring their lead before Anelka repaid the favour to Drogba as the home side cruised to victory. The Frenchmen’s threat from out wide could be the key against Barcelona because Chelsea have little hope of outplaying the Spanish side in central midfield, but, as Malouda said, their greater physical prowess may also be important.

“We’re really happy to play together and there was a lot of movement and we all scored, so there are a lot of positives,” he said. “We really enjoyed ourselves and it was a great boost for our confidence because we scored three goals at home before the Barcelona game.

“The main concern for us is the battle in midfield with Iniesta and Xavi. We know that Barça will be happy if we go crazy and give them a lot of space, but that’s not the plan.” Fortunately for Chelsea, Hiddink has several up his sleeve.

Chelsea (4-4-2): P Cech 6 - J Bosingwa 6, Alex 5, J Terry 6, A Cole 5 - F Lampard 6, J O Mikel 6, M Essien 5, F Malouda 7 - N Anelka 7, D Drogba 6. Substitutes: B Ivanovic 5 (for Alex, 46min), M Ballack 6 (for Essien, 46), F Di Santo (for Drogba, 85). Not used: Hilário, S Kalou, J Belletti, M Mancienne. Next: Arsenal (a).

Fulham (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 6 - J Paintsil 5, A Hughes 5, B Hangeland 6, P Konchesky 5 - Z Gera 5, D Etuhu 6, D Murphy 6, C Dempsey 6 - E Nevland 6, R Zamora 5. Substitutes: D Kamara 5 (for Nevland, 36min), O Dacourt (for Zamora, 76). Not used: P Zuberbühler, J Gray, F Stoor, C Baird, C Smalling. Next: Aston Villa (h).

Referee: A Wiley Attendance: 41,801