Mikel wards off winter woes

John Obi Mikel is confident Chelsea can avoid yet another case of the winter blues by beating Manchester United in Sunday's top-of-the-table Barclays Premier League showdown.

The European champions go into this weekend's game having suffered their first major setback of the season in Tuesday's Champions League game at Shakhtar Donetsk. The 2-1 defeat came at the time of year when Chelsea have suffered a slump in three of the past four seasons that have ultimately cost them in the title race.

Defeat on Sunday would raise the spectre of a repeat, but Mikel said: "All of us know what has happened in recent seasons, so we have to make sure that this defeat doesn't make that happen again. We have to make sure we correct it very quickly and that starts with the next game against United."

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