Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that his players remain fully motivated heading into the final weeks of the season, despite their Champions League campaign recently coming to an abrupt end.
The Blues are on course to lift the Premier League title for the first time in five years this season, having built up a six-point advantage at the top of the table with a game in hand to spare over their closest challengers.
At times this year Mourinho has rallied against officials, claiming that there is a "campaign" against his side to stop them winning the league.
However, the Portuguese has made clear that he has not been forced to get tough with any of his current squad ahead of the end-of-season run-in.
"Confrontational leadership is when you are ready to provoke your players to try to create some confidence," he is quoted as saying by Goal.com. "Criticise a player in the media. Criticise a player in front of you and try to provoke a reaction from him of of anger, of not being happy with his manager, of trying to show I'm not right.
"The intention is to bring out the best in them. At this moment, I don't think I need to do that because things are going in the direction I want. This season I don't need confrontational leadership. Last season I felt I needed it at times. I didn't think there were many of them that were ready.
"This season I don't need that because everything is going in relation to the team and players. On motivational terms and responsibility terms, I am happy with them. Obviously, you can say you lost in the Champions League or you lost to Bradford City. But generally the way they work and behave, their motivations, the way they react to negative or positive moments, it is all going well."
Chelsea are back in action tomorrow afternoon when they take on Hull City at the KC Stadium.
Daniel Lewis
