Petr Cech, a veteran of two Chelsea league wins plus the recent run that has taken the Blues to victory over Man United and Liverpool, has backed the Blues to survive the pressure cooker atmosphere at St James' Park this afternoon.

Anything less than a victory will all but call an end to the challenge for domestic honours but entering the pitch with that knowledge will not inhibit the good form according to our confident keeper.

'Chelsea has always been a big attraction for the media, there is always a lot of pressure and we have got used to all this. We just concentrate on what is on the field,' he has said ahead of the match.

'This game is another final for us. We cannot do anything but win and we are going to go there in a positive mood and we will keep our dream of winning the Premier League alive. If we win and keep the pressure on until the last game, it is going to be interesting.'

Taking a look over the season as a whole as it reaches its climax, Cech believes Chelsea have proved we are not a diminished force compared with the back-to-back title-winning sides.

'I think you can see the same qualities, you can see we can handle the pressure and we can win every game, so I would say the team is at least on the same level, maybe a little bit better because this season was very tough.

'We started a little bit behind and we had to chase Man United and Arsenal - and we did it up to this moment. It is difficult to compare but I would say the quality is at least at the same level.'


Bookmakers Paddy Power make Chelsea 10/11 to keep a clean sheet this afternoon.