As Chelsea grow in confidence, Michael Ballack believes the season's success so far can be put down to the strong bond between the squad.

It's a bond that has developed with the side playing together for so long. Only Daniel Sturridge, Yury Zhirkov, Nemanja Matic and Ross Turnbull arrived in the summer, which did little to upset the foundations of the team.

Now with a trip to Everton tomorrow, the midfielder feels confident ahead of a hard fixture.

'We are a good team and it's great to play in a team like this,' reports Ballack.

'Everyone fights for everyone, there is some good experience and we have played together for a few years.

'We play for Chelsea, that's our job, and that's why we have to win games and that's what we have to do now.

'The team are confident, settled and it's important to win, even in difficult situations.'

One player who stands out for the German is frontman Didier Drogba. The Ivorian has thrown himself back into the limelight following a break from English football in Africa.

'He is a very individual type of player,' said Ballack, 'he is different from [Wayne] Rooney or [Andrey] Arshavin.

'He is unbelievable, with physical strength and technical ability. He's a striker but also a freekick taker. In fact, he is a striker with a lot of other qualities. Not many players have this.

'You see in the big games like Arsenal, he was there. That is why he is a big player.'

Chelsea head to Goodison Park on the back of our weekend's win against Arsenal and a two-point lead at the top of the table.

But despite our current position, a trip to Everton is never an easy game, and the Toffees have already managed to score three against us at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season.

However, Sunday's fixture saw some tactical football from the Blues, as Arsenal controlled possession but we bided our time and struck on the counter-attack.

The side stayed compact and defended with vigour while in attack we were consistently aware of opportunities and advantages, which we took with force to earn our place at the top of the League.

'We knew the way they would play. It's always a little bit of the same style and if you know the tactics, you can beat them,' explains Ballack.

'Football is not about possession or playing a nice passing game. Football is about winning games.

'We had to win and that's why we showed we deserved to stay in first position at this moment.'