Something may have been lost in translation when Carlo Ancelotti called Joe Cole “a genius” after Chelsea’s demolition of Blackburn Rovers. The equivalent word in Italian does not have the same force as the English term — it means merely a creative, imaginative player.

But the body language was clear as the Chelsea manager hugged Cole when he came off after 77 memorable minutes of his first league start since suffering a knee injury in January that required two operations.

Cole must have felt equally affectionate towards his manager for playing him in the central role in which he first came to prominence, when West Ham United won the FA Youth Cup ten years ago. After Cole’s move to Chelsea in 2003, the only vacant berth was on the left of midfield, with the result that he has largely been regarded since as a wide player, for club and country. But on Saturday evening, at the cutting edge of Chelsea’s midfield diamond, he gave a performance reminiscent of that precocious 17-year-old, full of confident flicks and tricks, but with the judgment and vision that come with experience.

“Then I wasn’t the player I am now,” Cole said. “The position suits me down to the ground. If I was a manager, I would put myself in that position. I love it. But I’m not going to start saying, ‘I want to be playing here, there and every week.’ I’m just happy to be playing.

“The manager had knee injuries in his career and he knows it’s difficult to come back. The last few months have been the most frustrating. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t hit the ground running all the time. I just want to keep my feet on the floor and enjoy it because when you have been out that long you just want to be playing football. What else is there to do on a Saturday afternoon?

The player said that he was in the middle of negotiating a new deal. “The club want me to stay, so there should be no problems,” Cole said. “I love it here, I feel this is my home. I’m interested in getting back in the England squad, but I just want to keep moving forward nice and slowly and when England comes round I’ll be ready.”

It helped that Chelsea were playing a Blackburn Rovers team who never looked likely to end a run of successive away defeats that was extended to nine and were described as “pathetic” by Sam Allardyce, their manager. Although they worked hard to prevent Chelsea adding to Gaël Givet’s own goal in the first half, they collapsed after Frank Lampard doubled the score shortly after the break.

Michael Essien embarrassed Paul Robinson from 35 yards, Lampard converted a penalty after Ryan Nelsen had fouled Didier Drogba, and Drogba did not have to move to head in Michael Ballack’s corner. Had Chelsea not eased off, it could have been much, much worse.

Allardyce is concerned that the virus that deprived him of the services of David Dunn and Christopher Samba may spread throughout the squad, but perhaps he should hope that it already has and adversely affected their concentration.

“What looked like it was working tactically in the first half, completely went out of the window in the second half,” Allardyce said. “They’ve got to make sure they stick to the game plan because that’s going to get them results. They are deciding, ‘We are 2-0 down, let’s forget about that and let’s go and try and score three.’

“That’s a bit naïve to say the least, at Stamford Bridge. You can only play in the Premier League if you have that mental toughness and resilience. The ability comes after that.”

Their away game against Manchester United on Saturday promises to be another extreme test of both.

Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2): P Cech 5, B Ivanovic7, J Terry 7, R Carvalho 6, J Belletti 6, M Essien 8, M Ballack 7, F Lampard 8, J Cole 8, D Drogba 8, N Anelka 6 Substitutes: P Ferreira 5 (for Belletti, 61min), J Bruma 6 (for Carvalho, 67), D Sturridge (for J Cole, 77). Not used: Hilário, F Malouda, Deco, S Kalou.

Blackburn (4-1-4-1): P Robinson 5, L Jacobsen 4, G Givet 5, R Nelsen 5, M Olsson 5, S Nzonzi 4, E-H Diouf 5, B Emerton 4, K Andrews 4, M G Pedersen 4, Roberts 4. Substitutes: N Kalinic 4 (for Roberts, 53min), J Hoilett 5 (for Pedersen, 68). Not used: J Brown, B McCarthy, S Reid, P Jones. Booked: Pedersen

Referee: A Wiley Attendance: 40,836