John Terry is sure Chelsea can capitalise on their rivals' slip-ups to make the Premier League top four - and he has not given up on the title.
Chelsea have slumped to fifth in the Premier League after taking one point from their last two games but they got back to winning ways at FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Tottenham's surprise defeat at Blackpool also allows them the chance to regain fourth in the Premier League if they beat Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
Manchester City also lost their last league game - the Manchester derby - and lie just four points clear of Chelsea having played a game more, leaving Terry to believe his side's trophy-winning experience will give them the edge in the race for third and fourth place.
He said of Tottenham and City: "At times, they look very good but are slipping up like we all are at the moment.
"The only side who don't look like slipping up are Man United.
"And when teams like Tottenham and Man City do slip up, it's down to us to capitalise on that and make sure we win and hopefully pull away from them."
He added: "We've been there, we've seen it, we've done it, we've got the t-shirt.
"When we do go on a bad run, people pinpoint the age.
"But what we have got is an awful lot of experience, a lot of trust in each other and belief that we can still do it.
"Look at last year as well - the experience we showed last year in a lot of big games in the run-in.
"We went away to Liverpool, went away to Man United and won very big games - that proved to be very crucial in us doing the double."
Chelsea have all but surrendered their Premier League crown, having slipped 12 points behind United, but Terry believes they can sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of their perennial title rivals by beating them at Stamford Bridge next week.
"If we want to put in a charge and a run for the Premier League, we must beat Man United," Terry said.
"A draw's no good and, obviously, losing no good at all.
"We go into the game with no fear, just passion.
"Being able to put pressure on them would be great."
Terry agrees with Carlo Ancelotti that United would be facing a Chelsea side now boasting a forward line to be feared all over Europe.
Nicolas Anelka bagged a double on Tuesday night and, although Fernando Torres flopped again in front of goal, the £50million man otherwise linked up well with his strike partner.
With Didier Drogba also laying in wait on the bench, Terry reckons it bodes well for the Blues.
"To play against them must put the fear into defenders," he said.
"The two guys who started, showing their pace, playing on people's shoulders - there's probably none better in the league.
"Hopefully this is the start of them all clicking together."
He added of Torres: "The only thing that was missing from his performance was a goal.
"It would've been very nice for him, but he played a massive part in our performance."
And Terry would not be surprised at all to see the Spaniard finally break his duck against United, adding: "We hope so. It'd be an ideal time, and what a way to get going."
