“The belief is there. When we were top of the league last season and everybody was saying there is pressure on Chelsea, I was saying, no, there is no pressure on Chelsea,” Mourinho told the club’s official website.

“There is pressure on second place because the second place cannot lose points,” he said.

“This season I think that too, the second cannot lose points. We are second and because we are second, we cannot afford to make mistakes.”

Chelsea are trailing Manchester United with 9 points, but still have a game in hand and will hope to tackle the league leaders when they host them at Stamford Bridge in 4 weeks time.

Mourinho praised goalkeeper Petr Cech after his heroics in the Portsmouth game on Saturday and the Portuguese manager believes that the Czech custodian, who faced 4 months on the sidelines with a fractured skull, had a great effect with his absence.

“With Cech in goal all season, how many more points would we have had? He is the best goalkeeper in the world,” added Mourinho.