Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea's much-criticised youth system is finally yielding fruit and can negate the need for a spending spree in the January transfer window.

The west Londoners have struggled to match the productive academies of Premier League rivals such as Arsenal and Manchester United and they have relied instead on big-money purchases bankrolled by their billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

But Ancelotti insists the club is catching up and cited the development of Gael Kakuta, Fabio Boroni and Nemanja Matic - all of whom came on as second-half substitutes in the 4-0 win over Wolves on Saturday - as evidence of his depth in resources.

Chelsea are able to make signings in the new year after their 12-month transfer ban for allegedly inducing Kakuta to break his contract with French club Lens in 2007 was suspended, pending an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

But Ancelotti believes he has no need to add significantly to his squad, despite the prospect of losing four players - Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel - in January to the African Cup of Nations.

"At this moment, we are in a very good condition," Ancelotti said. "We had a lot of injuries against Wolves but our play was the same and that's important.

"We put in some young players and in January we will maintain this situation, which is why we don't want to buy players."

Ancelotti reserved his greatest praise for Kakuta, who was able to make his senior debut as a second-half substitute after his own four-month ban from all football was also suspended.

The 18-year-old winger delivered a lovely cameo that suggested he could be worth the aggrivation his signing has caused, and came close to netting a debut goal when his low shot rippled the side-netting.

"Kakuta played well and he is one of the very good young players who we can use in the future," Ancelotti added. "He has a lot of talent and he showed in 30 minutes that he has that talent.

"We have to stay calm with him because he has to improve still. For two or three weeks after his ban, he had some difficulty as he is very young. But we took him in the first team, he trained with us and he's happy now. We hope that he wil do better in the future for us."

Ultimately, Chelsea's victory - their club record 12th in succession on home soil which cemented their position at the top of the table - was secured by some of Ancelotti's more established players, most notably Florent Malouda and Michael Essien, who were both in imperious form.

Malouda broke the deadlock in the fifth minute with a superb rising drive from just outside the area and then shortly after swung in the corner which Essien headed in for the second.

Ghana midfielder Essien's scuffed shot in the 23rd minute somehow evaded the grasp of Wayne Hennessey in the Wolves goal and, at that point, the visiting manager Mick McCarthy must have feared the kind of thrashing that can leave indelible stains on a team's confidence.

As it was, Chelsea added just one more goal to their tally, Joe Cole's low drive squirming under Hennessey's body just after half-time for his first strike in over a year.

It was still a chastening afternoon for McCarthy, although the Irishman's consolation prize was the knowledge that he will not be confronted with opponents as daunting as Chelsea every week.

"We were happy with nil in the end," he said. "We made a few chances but we made mistakes with the goals. We have to keep going.

"I would have hoped for a bit better but we won't be judged on this - it's the games against Birmingham and Bolton which will be crucial for us. I don't doubt the spirit of the team."