Gudjohnsen prefers the winning way

Adrian Curtis

Jose Mourinho’s men were held at home by Bolton in the Premiership last weekend and by Paris St Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday and the Blues now face a tricky trip to Charlton tomorrow.

Last season Chelsea were thumped 4-2 by the Addicks and Gudjohnsen is under no illusions about the prospect facing them as they bid to increase their lead at the summit.

Chelsea follow their trip to Charlton with another visit to Craven Cottage for a Carling Cup quarter-final clash, but Gudjohnsen does not believe it will distract them from their main aim.

The Iceland striker said: “I don’t think the Carling Cup is a distraction for us. We showed that when we played Newcastle away how much we wanted to win that game. We are in that competition to win it. There are different opinions about that cup but we take it very seriously.”

Gudjohnsen, like the rest of the Chelsea squad, was bitterly disappointed not to beat Bolton and increase their lead at the top to four points. Instead, they remain two points clear of Arsenal but know that overcoming a stubborn Charlton side will not be easy.

Gudjohnsen added: “We all felt the disappointment on Saturday when we didn’t win. It had been a while since we dropped points. We want to pick ourselves up again starting with Charlton and then go into the Fulham game.

“Charlton is always a difficult game but we have to go into it in a confident manner and have to start winning again. We dropped two points last Saturday and didn’t win against Paris, so we have to make up for that.

“We don’t look at Arsenal too much, we try and focus on our own game. The only disappointment on Saturday is that we didn’t get the maximum out of it.”

Gudjohnsen now believes that, because of Chelsea’s rapid progress under billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and the coaching talent of Mourinho, every game they play is like a cup final. “We are one of the teams to beat in the Premiership now. The way the stature of the club has grown in the last one-and-a-half years makes Chelsea a very big club. When teams come up against us they want to beat us and they have that extra motivation.”

Gudjohnsen is happy with the rotational policy and, now that Didier Drogba is back in contention for a first team place, he may find himself sitting on the bench again. But he is ready for the challenge.