If confidence guaranteed results then Guus Hiddink and his Chelsea players would only have to turn up to beat Bolton Wanderers today as the Blues bid to boost their Premier League title hopes.
Hiddink’s impact at the west London club since he took temporary charge in February has been remarkable.
His side’s stunning 3-1 demolition of Liverpool in Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Anfield confirmed that under the Dutchman, Chelsea are back to their intimidating best heading into the final weeks of the season.
PHOTO: AP
The result means they are clear favorites to claim a place in the last four of European soccer’s premier competition, while next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal could see them progress to a domestic final.
With leaders Manchester United stumbling awkwardly in recent weeks, Hiddink’s re-energized side are by no means out of the running in the title race heading into the final seven games of the campaign.
Chelsea face a Bolton side who have all but secured their top-flight status four points behind United who have a game in hand.
But a victory over Gary Megson’s side will maintain the pressure and if there was any doubt that expectation amongst Hiddink’s players is currently sky high, it was surely removed by fullback Ashley Cole’s reaction to the unexpected score-line against Liverpool.
“We were a little disappointed we didn’t score four or five,” the England defender said. “When we came in everybody was saying we could have finished it there and then. But we are happy. It’s going to be tough for them to come to Stamford Bridge and score three goals.”
Hiddink’s main challenge this weekend will probably be to bring his players back down to earth, but with Didier Drogba returning to his very best form this week and Michael Essien completely nullifying Steven Gerrard, it’s hard to envisage them being denied by a solid, but unspectacular Bolton side who have not won in eight away games.
Chelsea have won eight of their 10 games since Hiddink succeeded Luiz Felipe Scolari and while the manager remains adamant he will return full time to his job with the Russia national team in May, there is a growing belief his brief reign will be marked by at least one piece of silverware.
And the margin of victory over Liverpool means he may feel under less pressure to rest key players ahead of next week’s return meeting with Rafael Benitez’s side.
For Bolton, the target for the remainder of the season is to break into the top half of the table, which would be a considerable achievement after a campaign spent on the fringes of the relegation zone.
Megson praised the efforts of Swedish striker Johan Elmander, who has come in for criticism.
“The stats show that no forward in the Premier League works harder than Johan,” Megson said. “He’s put in a lot of effort and he is extremely unselfish. Being a center-forward people will look at his goals and both Johan and myself are disappointed with five goals.”
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