With Chelsea currently sitting fourth in the table following their dramatic victory against Leeds on Tuesday night, the Champions League dream is still very much alive at SW6. However, with recent loses at Old Trafford and Arsenal, ground has been lost to the teams currently sitting above The Blues and of course Chelsea must also be aware of Everton, Southampton and Liverpool who still pose as threats to that crucial fourth position.
Such thoughts are of obvious concern to Marcel who was also quick to the point to the disappointments at Old Trafford.
"It was such a bad feeling when we lost in the last minute. They were not even trying to be at our level in playing football and were just hitting long balls and looking for flick-ons," said Desailly.
"They tried an English style because they knew that we were better on the floor.
"It was a signal that we had to be careful. We have to stick together, otherwise we can slip into the middle of the table for nothing because you lose your confidence when you're not winning."
While such comments could be taken as criticisms of United's style, he was actually impressed at the way they carved out a vital victory (just as we did against Leeds!)
"We have to carry on playing like we did against Manchester United, with a lot of personality," he told Chelsea's matchday magazine.
"But we also have to switch on our intelligence to win games, not to just think about playing well.
"Last year, we were having some trouble against small teams but winning against some big teams. Now it looks like things have changed.
"Against the big teams, we have problems to win. We continue to play well but it's not enough as they are more pragmatic than us. You can see Manchester United are not playing well but they still win."
Chelsea responded to the Old Trafford heart break with impressive, professional victories at Shrewsbury last weekend and of course the drama and excitement provided by the victory against Leeds earlier in the week – (this Chelsea fan has yet to recover). Such determined and gutsy performances was just what the captain had been looking for.
And now we come to Spurs……
Do you get the feeling that Chelsea will have to match the type of performance displayed on Tuesday against Leeds in order to overcome Spurs tomorrow? I personally, get the feeling that life will not be easy tomorrow (is it ever) for the Chelsea 11.
With Tottenham securing a point at the reverse fixture earlier in the season, matched with the disappointment of a late loss against Newcastle in midweek, and with the additional factor of their hate for all things Blue, this combination of confidence and spite/previous disappointments, may inspire those Tottenham Hotspurs?
On the other hand……we may stuff them 4-0 as we did last season – what a glorious evening that was!
Prior to the game tomorrow Ranieri must check on the fitness of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (ankle), Enrique de Lucas (hamstring) and Mario Stanic (knee).
Emmanuel Petit, Mario Melchiot and Boudewijn Zenden will also be looking for recalls, but Celestine Babayaro is a further doubt after going off injured 10 minutes before half-time against Leeds.
With Marcel insisting that Chelsea must maintain their mental strength in order to sustain their Champion’s League hopes, midfielder (and Leeds hero) Frank Lampard also had something to say.
He added: "We've got a bit more steel about us and showed great resilience to win two games in three days.
"But we're not going to just settle for the Champions League. We want to finish second or third. It's up to us to win as many games as possible and keep the pressure on the leaders."
Here’s hoping for glory come tomorrow afternoon!