Mikel out to protect proud record

Mikel John Obi is determined Chelsea will not surrender their unbeaten home league run to newly-crowned champions Manchester United at Stamford Bridge tonight.

Chelsea lost the Premiership title to Alex Ferguson’s men when they drew 1-1 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

But Chelsea have now gone 61 games without defeat in the league since February 2004 when Arsenal went away with all three points.

It is a run which extends back well before the 20-year-old Nigerian joined the club and even pre-dates coach Jose Mourinho’s arrival.

If Chelsea avoid defeat against United and Everton on Sunday, then they would match Liverpool’s all-time top-flight home record of 63 games unbeaten between February 1978 and January 1981.

It is a target that even youngsters like Mikel have been talking about.

Mikel said: “We have been told about the run and we hope to keep it by not losing tomorrow – and for me, it is a game we need to win.

“We have lost the league but we have still the same spirit, the same momentum that we use to play every game and we will use it to play this one as well.

“As far as we are concerned, it is a game we need to play so it is a game we need to win.

“We are still together. We have a lot of injured players but the lads want to go out there and show we are still like champions. We want to go and show that next season we will be there. This season is not over yet.”

Mikel has emerged as one of the successes of the season for Chelsea after being disciplined by Mourinho early in his career for his slack approach to training.

But the Nigerian has been a regular in the first team over the last two months and with the FA Cup final at the new Wembley now looming, Mikel insists he does not feel he has to prove anything to ensure he will be part of the team against United on May 19.

Mikel added: “It all depends on the manager, he knows what he is doing and he’ll make sure he puts his best team out for the cup final.

“I don’t have anything to prove. The Arsenal match was a difficult game and we came out and we made sure we played better than them.

“Whenever I play, I always want to make sure we play football, we keep the game on the floor and we play. The manager always encourages us to play football and we have lots of good players who want to play and they enjoy it.”

But Chelsea will find it hard against United without midfielder Michael Ballack (ankle), striker Andriy Shevchenko (hernia) and doubts over offensive players Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben. Defender Khalid Boulahrouz is also suspended after being red-carded against Arsenal.