To date, Jose Mourinho has done his bit to maintain Chelsea's record over Tottenham with three league wins and a draw in the four derbies under his control. Last year his side won both home and away ? but only just.

'It was difficult and we do not forget it was the last minute of injury team when we won at home,' he points out, recalling the late goal by now departed William Gallas that in March turned a draw into a 2-1 win.

Michael Essien had opened the scoring and in the game at White Hart Lane the previous August, Asier Del Horno with his only Chelsea goal and Damien Duff secured a 2-0 win.

'I like to play against Tottenham because they play a good way with Martin Jol,' Mourinho told Chelsea TV. 'They play attacking football and they try to win the game. Every game is hard.

'We have to believe that one day they can beat Chelsea. If we know that can happen one day, we fight against them, not play with our hands in our pockets because the tradition says that Chelsea never lose.'

Although Mourinho makes clear that recent past encounters between these two teams have been tight affairs, he has hinted that sooner or later a performance by his side against an opponent will be anything but tight.

'At the moment my team has big morale, it has a good attitude and the quality of our football is very, very good. The only thing I am waiting for, and I have been waiting for a long time, is the day we score every big chance we produce.

'At the moment we are having six or seven big chances every game.'

Petr Cech apart, Mourinho has listed Andriy Shevchenko as his one player with injury problems in the build-up to Sunday's game.

The striker has not played for a fortnight after being hit by a thigh muscle concern but is expected to train with the squad on Saturday.

One of the more eagerly-awaited selections by the Chelsea boss will be in goal where he must decide whether to retain Hilario for a sixth game or install the previous number two choice, Carlo Cudicini.

Hilario himself was unaware of the decision after Friday's training.

'The manager has said nothing special to me. Just keep going and work like before,' the incumbent keeper has said.

'I understood that coming to Chelsea would have some risk but when out on the field, anything can happen.

'When I arrived I said I would work to be part of the team and make difficult the choice for the boss but this is not the way I wanted my chance play. I wanted to play because I had worked well.

'But things happened to Petr and Carlo, so my friends in the team help and I enjoy.'

Hilario has thanked the Chelsea support for the way he has been received into the team.

'The atmosphere was very calming for me and reassuring. It was a fantastic feeling to start off with.'

by Paul Mason