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MONTREAL -- Limited to two substitute appearances through the first six weeks of the MLS season, Didier Drogba is ready to start his first match of 2016 when his Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Impact host Canadian rivals Toronto FC this weekend. "I'm improving," Drogba said on Wednesday. "It was good to play those minutes, but now I need to push in the training sessions to make sure I'm ready to start. "Maybe not 90 [minutes], but at least start and play 60 or 70. It depends how long I can rely on my legs." The former Chelsea star's chronically sore knee has been bothering him since the preseason. As a precaution, the Impact decided not to play the 38-year-old Ivorian striker on artificial turf, ruling him out for four of the new season's first five games. Cold weather forces Montreal to open each season indoors at Olympic Stadium, which has a plastic field. They had two games there and also played on turf in Vancouver and Seattle, but will return to Stade Saputo and its grass pitch on Saturday. Drogba made his 2016 debut off the bench March 19 at FC Dallas, playing the final 20 minutes of the 2-0 loss. Last weekend in Chicago, he entered just after halftime and scored a spectacular equalizer in Montreal's 2-1, come-from-behind win. Drogba scored 11 goals in 11 regular season games last season after arriving in late July. He added another in the playoffs in a knockout-round win against TFC. "It's a good rivalry, I can see our fans are really excited about it," Drogba said of Saturday's rematch. "A derby is there to be won. We have to win. But at the end the day it's only three points." Impact coach Mauro Biello was coy when asked if he would play Drogba from the beginning. "He's someone that takes a bit of time to get going, and I have to take that into consideration," said Biello. "He's training well. He's sharp. He's still not at 100 percent, but he's in a good spot to help out the team." Drogba is in the final year of his contract and there has been plenty of speculation that this season will be his last as a professional. Asked if he might consider sticking around in 2017, Drogba was non-committal. "Let me start already my first complete game," Drogba joked. "I don't know. In a few months we're going to talk about this. Let's go step-by-step please and make sure I play and I enjoy being on the field with my teammates." Drogba was also asked about 17-year-old FC Montreal winger Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, who is drawing interest from Chelsea and fellow Premier League heavyweights, a source told ESPN FC. "He's a very respectful young man," Drogba said. "He has the potential, but it's up to him to work. It's up to him to make the right choices and most importantly to give everything for this opportunity. Opportunities like this should be seized."
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