The past three weeks have seen Villas-Boas' Blues almost halve what was a 12-point gap to leaders City, while victory at Wigan tomorrow will see them close to within just four points of top spot. Chelsea's victory over City on Monday gave hope to all of the chasing pack, with United able to overhaul their Manchester rivals - temporarily at least - by winning at QPR on Sunday. But Villas-Boas' side's success also put the top two on red alert that they may be about to produce the sort of run that saw them almost overcome a 16-point deficit to win last season's title. "Nothing is going to be decided in December or January, but this is a stressful situation between the Manchester clubs," Villas-Boas said. "So that gives us, the people chasing, the chance to shorten the distance. "In four games in the Premier League, we reduced the distance by five points. "We play Tottenham, we play Wigan, Aston Villa and Fulham. "If we are able to shorten by another five points, it would be magnificent, but I wouldn't say that would happen. "It's Man City-Arsenal being played this weekend and, again, this can have an influence on how the Premier League top four and five can look at the end of December." Villas-Boas knows his side must keep winning to maintain the pressure on City, who he is not expecting to go into meltdown after Monday's controversial loss at Stamford Bridge. "It's not the first time that they've suffered defeat," he said. "It's the first time in the league, of course, but it's not the first time that they've suffered a defeat this season and they've responded magnificently well." Victory tomorrow would maintain Chelsea's 100% record since the start of the month, a run that has coincided with Villas-Boas abandoning his much-maligned high defensive line. But he said: "Our defensive organisation was never, ever in question. "High line, or low line or whatever line, Liverpool are the best defence with 13 (conceded), then it's Man City with 15, and we are on 18. "So I would say that we are pretty much a good defensive, solid organisation." So what does Villas-Boas believe is the secret behind Chelsea's resurgence? "Confidence has a major boost - confidence, motivation," he said. "As you win, I think you solidify those processes. "Hopefully, that is what is happening and we have to continue to perform, which is always difficult." The same applies in the Champions League following today's draw that paired Chelsea with Napoli, who effectively knocked City out of the competition. The Blues will still be favourites to progress but not favourites for the competition, with Barcelona and Real Madrid hotly tipped. But Villas-Boas, who won the Europa League with Porto last season, said: "It was funny because when I was at Porto, the Europa League favourites kept on changing as teams progressed or not. "Eventually, a lot of big, big favourites fell out of the Europa League, from Man City, to Sevilla, to all of the Champions League teams apart from Benfica and Braga. "That means at the moment there is a prediction but it doesn't mean that it's going to play right." Speaking before today's draw was made, he added: "There's a big advantage to playing the second leg at home. "This is the most gratifying thing of finishing first because it can stimulate your fans to create the right environment to help you get the result that you need to go through. "If we manage to get this environment for the rest of the campaign, Premier League, or Champions League, or FA Cup, it'll certainly be a major help." Something else that would help Chelsea's chase for silverware would be the availability of Didier Drogba for as long as possible before the African Nations Cup. City this week successfully negotiated for Yaya and Kolo Toure to link up with the Ivory Coast squad after their Carling Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool. That is 10 days before the African Nations Cup begins and Villas-Boas would like similar treatment for Drogba and Salomon Kalou, who he could be forced to release before Chelsea's FA Cup tie with Portsmouth three days earlier. Asked if that was only fair, he said: "I would say so. "I'm not sure if it's possible or not."
