Florent the machine: Malouda's all smiles as Chelsea put four past Wolves
Eye on the prize: Deco is set to return to action at his former club
Our year: Terry celebrates with Lampard and is sure of a big season for the Blues
Carlo Ancelotti may be rewriting the Chelsea record books with his team’s imperious home form but John Terry has identified a sequence of four away fixtures - starting today - as the key to the season.
Chelsea have forged a five-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League, and Terry senses that opponents are beginning to fear the Blues once again, as they did during Jose Mourinho’s time.
Like Mourinho’s Chelsea, Ancelotti’s team are proving superb at Stamford Bridge. They have not conceded a goal there since the first day of the season, but their destiny lies on the road according to the centre half who will captain the club for the 300th time tonight.
‘I really think we’re getting back that invincible feeling we had three years ago,’ said Terry. ‘I listen to the other players when we’re away with England and they’re all talking
about how well we’re playing. They’re fearing us again.
‘We’re playing well and could go on to great things again this year. We had that when we were winning the Premier League and we’re getting close to that again. It’s key to get that back.
‘We know what it takes to win major titles and we need to produce that now. It takes winning runs. It takes periods when you keep on top, striding from result to result.
Good performances, strong performances, dogged performances and everyone in the squad playing their part.
‘We’re top of the Premier League and top of our Champions League group. Now is the time we can pull away. It’s four away games in a row and that’s the challenge major title winning teams rise to.
'This can be another special year in the history of Chelsea. The next few weeks can move us towards our goal.’
Victory in Porto will confirm Chelsea as Group D winners with a game to spare and secure a top seeding in the competition’s first knock-out round.
They return for a derby at Arsenal on Sunday, a Carling Cup quarter-final in Blackburn and a Premier League showdown with Manchester City, a week on Saturday.
‘Manchester City and Arsenal are serious top four contenders,’ said Terry. ‘There’s also Blackburn away in the Carling Cup. Victory and we’re through to the semi-finals.
'On the two occasions we’ve won the Carling Cup recently we’ve gone on to win other things - the Premier League in 2005 and the FA Cup in 2007. It’s the appetiser.
‘The Premier League is throwing up all sorts of difficult away games. We went to Wigan and lost, away to Villa and lost as well. It’s about regrouping, keeping everyone fit and believing in what we can do.’
Chelsea’s captain also applauded the manager’s policy of rotating his squad. With Arsenal in mind, Ancelotti will start with Didier Drogba and Michael Essien on the bench in Portugal and Yuri Zhirkov will start only his second game since his £18million summer transfer in order to give Ashley Cole a breather.
Ricardo Carvalho and Deco, two of five former Porto players in Chelsea’s squad, return in the Estadio do Dragao after sitting out Saturday’s 4-0 win against Wolves, as does Branislav Ivanovic.
Ancelotti said: ‘We want to win the group and show our personality and courage. That is a difficult thing to do in this stadium.’
This time last year, Chelsea were top of the Premier League on goal difference from Liverpool and eight points clear of Manchester United, who had a game in hand.
But a Champions League draw in Bordeaux was followed by defeat at home to Arsenal and they won only four of the next 10 before Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked in February.
Scolari’s painful lesson will guide Ancelotti, especially as Guus Hiddink is already making noises about a possible return to club football after Russia’s failure to reach the World Cup final.
‘We’ve had a good start but we’re not getting carried away,’ said Terry. ‘We started well last year and then threw it away.’
French teenager Gael Kakuta in action as Chelsea reserves lose to Birmingham City
Good start: Kakuta made his debut for Chelsea in the 4-0 win against Wolves
Two days after sampling the adulation of more than 40,000 at Stamford Bridge, Gael Kakuta was back in action last night in far more humble surroundings.
Eighteen-year-old Kakuta made his Chelsea debut on Saturday in the 4-0 defeat of Wolves, his first appearance for the club since a four-month ban imposed by FIFA for his illegal transfer from Lens was suspended pending an appeal.
Last night, however, the French teenager was playing for the reserves who lost 2-1 against Birmingham at Brentford's Griffin Park.
Nevertheless, 18-year-old Kakuta, who was today named in the squad for tomorrow night's Champions League clash against Porto, is hoping for more first-team chances.
He told Chelsea TV: 'I have been waiting so long and I am really happy, I enjoyed playing the game (against Wolves).
'My fitness is good. Because of the ban I have been out for months but I have
worked double sessions every day and I feel good.
'It has been a little bit like pre-season because when the boys finished I was still in, working in the afternoons.
'[In the Premier League] the game is much quicker, you have more choice when you play, you can play one touch, two touch, so it is much better.'
Chelsea target Franck Ribery forced to train alone after his wife is diagnosed with swine flu
Out: Ribery is struggling with a knee injury
Chelsea target Franck Ribery has been forced to train away from his Bayern Munich team mates after his wife contracted swine flu.
The France international is currently working his way back from a knee injury that has wrecked the start to his Bundesliga season.
And the 26-year-old must continue his rehabilitation alone after Bayern manager Louis van Gaal confirmed Ribery's wife, Wahiba, has been diagnosed with the virus.
The Blues and Real Madrid are being tipped to make fresh bids to sign Ribery next year after failing with summer swoops.
But any hopes Ribery may have of leaving Germany in January could be dashed if he was to contract the illness.
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Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester United -
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