Gary Cahill confident Chelsea can get 'over the line' in title chase ahead of Manchester United clash

England centre-back does not mind about stylistic criticisms as he hopes experience of 2015 will help to see Chelsea home

Gary Cahill celebrates with Diego Costa after the striker secured Chelsea's 2-1 win over West Ham (Getty)

Gary Cahill believes that Chelsea have the right approach to get “over the line” as they pursue this year’s Premier League title. Chelsea beat West Ham United 2-1 on Monday night to move 10 points clear of Tottenham Hotspur and it would now take a spectacular collapse for them not to win the title they last won in 2015.

That experience is coming in vital for this Chelsea team and Cahill said that they knew exactly how to shut out all distractions and keep their eyes on the prize over the run-in.

“We're focused,” Cahill said, “we're not listening to any noise, we know what we're doing, we're fully ready to try to see this over the line.” Chelsea have been criticised, even by Jose Mourinho, for playing defensive football but Cahill said that he “did not care” how they won, as long as they did.

Having been in this situation before, Cahill was confident Chelsea could use that experience to help close out this season’s title. “We've been doing the same things all season,” Cahill said. “Nothing should change. Our mindset shouldn't change. Our focus shouldn't change. The way we work shouldn't change. Everything should be the same as what it's been.”

Even though Chelsea are huge favourites to win the title, Cahill warned of how Manchester City briefly hauled them back during the 2014-15 season, narrowing a deficit before Chelsea eventually pulled away.

“We have put ourselves in a good position,” Cahill said. “I have been there before, when we won the league [2014-15] we were eight points clear of City and all of a sudden we were level on goal difference. I know the points can disappear. That's why we need to keep focused, if everyone is aware of that, and we keep the hunger that is in the team and the squad at the minute, then we will be OK.”

Chelsea now have a whole week to prepare for their FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United on Monday night, while United fly to Russia to play Rostov on Thursday night. Cahill hopes his team will be at full strength for that game.

“Our game is massive on Monday,” he said. “We will be ready for it. We've got a week now to prepare. Hopefully we can keep everyone fit like we have been managing to do this season, and we'll be prepared.”