Jose Mourinho has warned his Chelsea side that a poor run of form over the Christmas period could derail the Blues' title bid.
The West Londoners beat Stoke City 2-0 at the Britannia Stadium tonight to re-establish their three-point lead over Manchester City at the summit of the division.
Mourinho's side now face tricky visits to Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur in their next three games - along with hosting fourth-placed West Ham United on Friday.
Consequently, the Portuguese knows that the coming days could prove fatal should results go against his team, but says that beating the Potters was a good way to kick off the fixture pile-up.
"We start this period of Christmas knowing that our fixtures are more difficult than any other ones - three matches away: Stoke, Southampton and Tottenham," he told Sky Sports News.
"One match at home against big West Ham, because big West Ham - Big Sam - they are doing amazingly well this season.
"We know our opponents, they have different kind of fixtures, so for us it was very important to win tonight."
Chelsea held top spot at Christmas in each of their three Premier League title wins - 2005, 2006 and 2010.
Shane Callaghan
