Petr Cech is hoping another shutout against Porto tonight will be enough to wrap up top spot in Champions League Group D.

The Czech goalkeeper has conceded just twice, against Atletico Madrid three weeks ago, in the past seven games and is confident that with our current form, we are capable of scoring goals against anybody.

'I think that we have been playing well recently, more so at home but we have not made many mistakes at all,' he said. 'You need a bit of luck as well and the most pleasing thing is we are scoring goals as well. Of course the victories are looking much better when you are winning three or four-nil, but we have some 1-0 wins as well, where the clean sheet really counts.

'You know if you score you have a huge chance of winning, which is what you need.'

We are now firmly entrenched in football's busiest time of the season, with a spell of nine games inside a month beginning with Saturday's 4-0 win over Wolves. Cech is well aware that a win tonight could create an opportunity for Carlo Ancelotti to rest some players against APOEL in two weeks.

'We will see, we want to finish top but Porto away is not an easy game,' he warned. 'We would like to win there and know we are sure to finish first but we will see. There are lots of games coming up.

'What helps is that against Wolves we put the young guys in and could rest some players. Some people were not in the squad, some people will not be in next time and at the moment we don't have too many injuries. Everyone is fit and has the energy to play the forthcoming games.'

If he is successful, Cech will keep his fourth European clean sheet of the season on a familiar away ground, having appeared at the Estadio do Dragao twice before with Chelsea, and twice with his Czech Republic side in Euro 2004.

His record so far stands at one win (Czech Republic 3-0 Denmark, June 2004), one draw (Porto 1-1 Chelsea) and two defeats (Greece 1-0 Czech Republic, July 2004, Porto 2-1 Chelsea, December 2004).

A second Cech win in northern Portugal this evening will set us up very nicely for the weeks ahead, and allow full focus for the domestic action that follows thick and fast.