Friday 12 December 2014 07:13, UK
Gary Cahill says no club wants to be drawn against Chelsea in the Champions League's last 16 draw.
Chelsea return to Premier League duties this weekend, against struggling Hull. It will be their first domestic match since their first defeat of the season, against Newcastle last weekend. And Cahill says they go into the Tigers match in good heart after Wednesday night’s 3-1 victory over Sporting Lisbon.
"We're a good team," Cahill said. "We're certainly playing well.
"That unbeaten run that lasted so long, where we are in the league this season and how we're playing - I'm sure people will have taken a lot of notice of that.
"We're dangerous. I'm sure teams won't want to come up against us. But there are loads of dangerous teams going into the next round."
Chelsea are bidding for a second Champions League title in four years in Berlin in June after their 2012 triumph in Munich.
The Blues, who were beaten by eventual runners-up Atletico Madrid last term, could be drawn on Monday against Juventus, Basle, Bayer Leverkusen, Paris St Germain or Shakhtar Donestsk in the first knockout round.
"It was crazy when I first came then after six months we ended up winning (the 2012 European Cup)," said Cahill, who signed from Bolton in January 2012.
"On the flip side the year before last (2013) we went out with 10 points. Last year we were so close. It hurt us a lot to go out in the semi-final. I feel that we're going stronger this season so let's see."
That unbeaten run that lasted so long, where we are in the league this season and how we're playing - I'm sure people will have taken a lot of notice of that.
First Chelsea return to domestic duty, against Hull, before meeting Derby in the Capital One Cup quarter-final and then the busy festive programme begins in earnest.
"After the result at the weekend it was important to get that feeling of winning again," Cahill added.
"It's unbelievably hard to go through a season without losing a game; everyone realises when you're in the league it's so hard to do that.
"Of course you want to keep it going, but no one was really speaking about it.
"We wanted to get positive results and keep that gap. At this stage to be top by three points is really good for us.
"It's important (to go on another run). It's important because at the end of the season we want to be top of the league.
"You see how close Manchester City at this moment are to us, even with that unbeaten run. We think about that: how hard we worked to go on that unbeaten run and how well everyone spoke about how we were playing, but yet we're three points in front with many games to go.
"We believe, because we're playing well and we look good. We've lost one game this season. Of course the belief is there."
