Mourinho plans early end to title race

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is aiming to wrap up the English Premier League title two weeks early next May.

Mourinho, whose side are two points clear of Arsenal, said he worked best under the pressure of expectation and Chelsea's ambitions were very high.

Speaking at Stamford Bridge at the launch of a new badge for the London club on Friday, Mourinho said he had travelled to the ground along the fashionable King's Road with his assistants.

"One of them said 'The Kings Road will go crazy come May 14'", Mourinho recounted. "And I said: 'Maybe we can do it one or two weeks before the end of the championship.'"

Flanked by chief executive Peter Kenyon and the club's life vice-president, actor and film director Richard Attenborough, Mourinho showed himself to be as adept a corporate as a team publicist.

He described the new lion-rampant badge, which harks back to the club's 1950s logo, as highly appropriate for the style of team he has tried to build since Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich hired him from European Champions Porto in June.

"The lion is arrogant, he's aggressive, he's powerful, he's proud to be a Chelsea lion," the 41-year-old Portuguese said.

"This will make us even more aware of our ambition."

Arrogant is one of the adjectives that newspapers have most commonly used to describe the manager since he arrived promising to turn Chelsea, who have not won the league since 1955, into a trophy-winning side.

Chelsea face southwest London neighbours Fulham in the league on Saturday looking to equal the club record of eight wins in a row.

They are likely to be without midfielder Joe Cole, who is suffering from a virus.

Striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who came on as an extra-time substitute in the League Cup at Newcastle on Wednesday and scored the first Chelsea goal in their 2-0 win, said he was aiming to add to his six goals in the last six games.

"I'm happy with my contribution and happy that we got through, and it's always nice to score. I think for any team when your strikers are scoring goals it breeds confidence," Gudjohnsen was quoted as saying on Chelsea's website.