Petr Cech says Chelsea can settle for no less than three wins out of three this Christmas.

"We need to win the games even though it's three matches in such a short period," said the Blues' keeper.

"Over the years when we won the title, it was our strongest period - when we had to reel off games that were coming like this. So we have to look to do it again. We have to at least keep our position in the table over this period, if not improve it, because what happens over Christmas will have a big impact on what happens in the New Year.

But Cech said he thought the odds were on Chelsea's side: "I think we prefer that many games coming so quickly. You don't really have time to think about the matches when they come at you so swiftly, you just go out and play.

A mixture of TV scheduling and awkwardly-placed bank holidays will see the Blues take to the field three times in six days: facing Everton at Goodison on Monday, West Brom at Stamford Bridge on Friday, and Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

The trip to Merseyside may appear, on the face of it, to be the trickiest of the three; but it is the visit of the Premiership's bottom side West Brom that bothers Cech most."

"It's hard to explain why our form is so different [at home]. You can see the effort and the way we try to break our opponents down [at Stamford Bridge], but getting the early goal is the key. We've been doing that away from home and it has made the games easier.

"We are not taking our chances at home. When we play away, we are really efficient, usually the first chance we get goes in. But we've not had the luck this season at home to score the quick goal and start from there."

"We need to get our home form back again. When you win three points away, it is good but you need to make the most of it by winning the next home game as well. The most disappointing thing is that we've now had two chances to go top of the table and we've not taken them. Whenever everybody else has drawn, so have we."