CHELSEA eased effortlessly into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at the expense of Championship side Norwich at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

It was the perfect start to an important week for the Premiership champions, who face Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday and Arsenal in the final of the Carling Cup next Sunday.

Shaun Wright-Phillips put them ahead in the 38th minute and top scorer Didier Drogba made it two six minutes after the break.

The scoring was completed with two goals in the last minute from substitutes Michael Essien and Andriy Shevchenko.

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho opted to rest a number of his first-team regulars in preparation for their trip to Portugal but their strength in depth proved too much for Norwich.

"Of course we need rotation if we are to try to be successful in as many games and tournaments as possible, " Mourinho said afterwards.

"So far this season we have had much less rotation than we might have hoped, but now we have the players back, we have to do it."

Chelsea almost drew first blood in the ninth minute when Frank Lampard fired in a free-kick which Norwich goalkeeper David Marshall did well to push to safety.

After 11 minutes, Marshall had to be replaced by substitute goalkeeper Paul Gallagher after appearing to hurt his ankle while trying to deal with an Arjen Robben cross Norwich should have gone one up in the 16th minute when Dickson Etutu's 20yard shot beat Petr Cech only to rebound off the foot of the right-hand upright.The loose ball fell straight to the feet of the lurking Lee Croft but the City player's goalbound effort was cleared by the retreating Khalid Boulahrouz.

Norwich continued to press forward and Darren Huckerby just failed to get to a loose ball inside the six-yard box in the 26th minute.

It was another warning for the Premiership side, who hit back immediately, with Gallagher doing well to save from long-range efforts from Robben and Lampard.

But Chelsea finally broke the deadlock in the 38th minute. Lampard's initial shot was blocked on the edge of the penalty area by Andy Hughes and the ball fell to the waiting Wright-Phillips, who despatched a swerving shot into the roof of the net to give Mourinho's men the lead against the run of play.

It did not take long for Chelsea to increase their lead after the break as Drogba put them two up in the 51st minute with his 26th goal of the season.

A corner by Lampard fell into the path of Drogba on the edge of the six-yard box and even though the Ivorian had his back to the goal, he swivelled and volleyed home in one movement.

Chelsea made it three in the last minute when substitute Shevchenko set up Essien and the Ghanaian midfielder applied the finish. Seconds later Shevchenko made it four to complete a comfortable afternoon for for the Blues.