John Terry has urged Chelsea to take advantage of recent slip-ups
by their rivals and restore a healthy lead at the top of the
Premier League.
But the England captain also warned that the Blues cannot
afford any more blips of their own when they return to top-flight
action against Sunderland on Saturday.
Manchester United and Arsenal both failed to win last
weekend, but still closed to within one and three points
respectively of Chelsea.
The Blues boasted an 11-point lead over Arsenal after beating
them at the end of November, while United trailed Carlo Ancelotti's
side by four points and Terry warned: "We cannot afford any more
slip-ups.
"Thankfully the teams in and around us have been slipping up
as well, but Arsenal are right back in the frame again. When we
beat them 3-0 I thought they were out of it to be honest.
"We need to concentrate on ourselves because apart from the
Watford game, when we were brilliant albeit against a lesser side,
we haven't been playing as well.
"Hopefully that game will give us a boost and we can kick on
now, and pull away when the other teams are slipping up."
The 29-year-old also revealed how Ancelotti has helped
improve their team spirit further by taking the squad and coaching
staff out for dinner last week.
"It's the first time since I have been playing that a manager
has taken everyone out and paid for it as well," Terry told Chelsea
TV.
"It was a little bit of team bonding. We are with each other
24 hours a day and in each others pockets, but everyone enjoyed it
and had a good meal."
Meanwhile, Chelsea have been boosted by the return to fitness
of Portugal midfielder Deco, but the 32-year-old is unlikely to be
match fit to face Sunderland this weekend. Ancelotti is more likely
to hand Deco a recall in the FA Cup fourth-round tie at Preston a
week later.
The snow and cold weather have disrupted Ancelotti's training
plans, with the players given two days off after the postponement
of their game at Hull last Saturday.
The squad were back in training on Wednesday morning despite
snow still covering much of their Surrey training ground. It was
the first involvement for Deco after a hamstring injury had kept
him out of action since he played against Portsmouth on December
16.
The Cobham ground staff worked hard to make the training
surface playable so the squad could train outside instead of inside
the all-weather dome.
