Duff determined to finish ahead of United and Arsenal

DAMIEN DUFF has underlined Chelsea’s determination to finish ahead of Manchester United and Arsenal this season.

The Dubliner was unhappy with The Blues’ performance in Wednesday night’s 0-0 draw at home to Sparta Prague, even though a point was enough to book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

And the former Blackburn player is confident they will raise their game for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday.

“You don’t spend 215 million to be runners-up and we want to win everything we’re involved in,” said Duff.

“It’s good to be involved in a such a great squad and it’s all about being up there at the end of the season.

“We’ll have to lift ourselves for Sunday as it’s a huge game. It’s unusual to have a six-pointer so early in the season and we’re looking forward to it.

“We’re very disappointed with Wednesday’s performance and are going to have to work on how we break teams down. Everyone was down in the dressing room. In the past month we’ve set awfully high standards and didn’t meet them. That speaks for itself and shows we want to become a dominant force,” he said.

Duff was linked with a move to Old Trafford before he clinched his £17 24million switch from Blackburn in the summer, but he insisted he never had any hesitation in joining the Stamford Bridge revolution.

“Chelsea didn’t need to sell the club to me with the players they were buying and the money Roman Abramovich has,” he said.

“I don’t know where those stories came from, it was always between Blackburn and Chelsea. I love it down here and am very happy.” Team-mate Joe Cole warned Chelsea they must sharpen their shooting ahead of Sunday’s mouth-watering fixture.

United visit London on the back of a six-match winning streak following their 1-0 victory over Panathinaikos and Cole sees it as a big test of how far Chelsea have progressed this season.

“We want to get the right result against every team but particularly against the champions,” he said: “We’ll have to finish our chances as there won’t be many as they’re an excellent unit. When we get a chance we’ll have to put it away.

“It’ll be a real test of how far we’ve come as a team and that’s how people are going to look at it. But there’s no reason to fear them. We think we’ve got enough to trouble them and will be looking to give them a real game,” said Cole.