BLUES ON BRINK OF HOME RECORD

Chelsea may be 90 minutes from setting a record for unbeaten league matches at home - but boss Jose Mourinho insists anything less than a win against Birmingham will not be worth celebrating.

Avoiding defeat on Sunday will see Chelsea go 64 Premier League matches unbeaten at Stamford Bridge, edging ahead of Liverpool's efforts at Anfield between 1978 and 1981, although Mourinho is looking at the bigger picture.

"If we draw, we shouldn't celebrate despite the historical record," he said.

"We don't play for records, we play for titles. One point against Birmingham is good but our target is not the record, it is to win the game.

"If we beat the record, respect goes to every player who has played during the games.

"I know my teams are very strong, especially at home. I know how to build a strong team with a strong mentality at home but people would think it would be too far to beat this record.

"To equalise is great but to beat it would be a moment for us to enjoy and remember the other guys who participated in the other matches but have now left Chelsea."

Mourinho has a remarkable home record himself, with the last league defeat he suffered being a 3-2 reverse while at Porto at the hands of Beira Mar in 2002.

"We finished with nine players, (Ricardo) Carvalho and Deco had red cards," explained Mourinho.

"We lost because we wanted to win."

Birmingham came close to winning at Stamford Bridge in Mourinho's first season at Chelsea, only for Didier Drogba to rescue a point with a late goal.

Mourinho felt he was under pressure to deliver that season after a busy summer in the transfer market.

In contrast, Florent Malouda is the only player Chelsea have paid a significant fee for this summer, and Mourinho feels that managers who spent big ahead of the season could feel the pressure he used to.

"If you (the media) have a different approach to them, more mellow, then maybe they don't feel the pressure. It is a problem that they have to survive."

From =Football365=