Returning Chelsea captain John Terry has warned Manchester
United that the Premiership title race is well and truly on.
Whilst The Blues have struggled somewhat without their talismanic
defender, they remain within six points of Sir Alex Ferguson's Red
Devils and can cut that lead in half with a victory over Charlton
on Saturday.
Terry's return after seven weeks out with a back problem has given
Jose Mourinho's squad an injection of self belief, and the England
skipper has warned his Old Trafford adversaries that Chelsea are
determined to push them all the way.
"We've got to make up six points on Manchester United in 13 games -
seven really to go ahead," said Terry.
"What that means is that we've just got to go on winning games
because we can't really afford to lose points.
"If we do go on winning games, they can't afford to lose points.
The race is on."
Even if the Premiership eludes them for the first time under Jose
Mourinho, Chelsea are still involved in all three cup competitions
and Terry is not ruling out a clean sweep of silverware in the
coming months.
"We're in the final of the Carling Cup [against Arsenal]. We
entered the competition to win it and that's still what we intend
to do," Terry added.
"So we want to win it and then we want to win more. We're in the
fifth round of the FA Cup and we've been drawn at home against
lower-league opposition [Blackpool or Norwich].
"The Champions League returns this month and although Porto maybe a
better team than when we played them two years ago, we are the
group winners and they are the runners-up and we have enough
quality and commitment in our squad to win the round.
"So this is the way it is. We believe that we can continue to
compete in all four competitions."