Chelsea welcome Sunderland to Stamford Bridge this weekend in a happy frame of mind as they are in the midst of a mini-revival. The Blues seem to be settled side now and can seriously challenge for the title after having won eight of their last ten games in all competitions.

Manager Avram Grant, who took over after the shock departure of Jose Mourinho will be happy with the resilience shown by his team. That resilience was evident last weekend when Chelsea struck to their task and a lone Joe Cole goal sealed a neat win over West Ham United.

The return of skipper John Terry will have boosted the Chelsea defense no end although Petr Cech will continue to be missed in goal. The latter sustained a small tear in his calf during Champions League encounter in November and has been sidelined since then.

Michael Essien will return after he served a one match ban following a red card in the November 24 clash against Derby County. Chelsea are third on the Premier League table with 31 points from 15 games.

Roy Keane will have heaved a sign of relief after a late Anthony Stokes goal clinched a much-needed win for the Black Cats against bottom huggers Derby County. The win takes Sunderland out of the bottom three for the moment and Keane will be delighted with the showing.

However he is hampered by injuries to key players including Anderson and Varga, who are being monitored on a day to day basis. Kieran Richardson has a stress fracture in the back and is out for at least three months. Winger Carlos Edwards is said to be out for six weeks after breaking his leg in the last game.

Keane has indicated he will be shopping in January and hopefully add more players so as to keep Sunderland in top flight. Sunderland are currently 15th in the Premier League table with 13 points from 15 games.

Watch Chelsea v Sunderland Live on free-football.tv.