Blues claim double award

Chelsea have collected a double award as they close in on an unprecedented four-trophy haul, with boss Jose Mourinho and goalkeeper Petr Cech being named Barclays manager and player of the month respectively.

The Blues did not concede goals in league wins at Portsmouth, Manchester City and Watford, while Sheffield United were beaten 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Despite winning the Barclays manager of the year award in 2005 and 2006, this is the first monthly prize Mourinho has collected since January 2005 and the first time Cech has won the award.

The Czech international is the first goalkeeper to win the award since Leicester's Tim Flowers in September 2000.

But Mourinho preferred to pay tribute to his players instead of taking all the plaudits himself. He said: "As I was saying before when they gave me the trophy you can call it 'manager of the month' but for me it is more 'team of the month'.

"We won every game and played well and my players deserve the trophy. I cannot complain. I was 'manager of the year' in the last two years in the Premiership.

"Last month we won every game and we played more matches than other people because we had to play matches in hand. We didn't concede one single goal, and played well, it is normal."