As Jose Mourinho aims to kill off the title race he is trying to suffocate his main rival with sympathy. Rather than dwell on a narrowing gap at the top of the table, the Chelsea manager turned his mind to the supposed plight of his closest challengers in the Premiership, foreseeing an Old Trafford in mourning over another failed season in the league.

"Manchester United are in a difficult situation," said Mourinho, "because they know they can lose for the third consecutive year in the Premiership. For a big club like them that is not an easy situation." The Chelsea manager did not shy away from personalising the rivalry either, a day after his opposite number had spoken so boldly about United overtaking his side.

Mourinho hints that Alex Ferguson will soon be angst-ridden. "Knowing myself as I do," he said, "three years without being champion would be very difficult to cope with. It depends on your personality."

His struggle with the United manager has been a notably courteous one.There is a great contrast with the past feuding between Ferguson and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger. While the Frenchman gets on the United manager's nerves, Ferguson feels an affinity with the obviously driven and combustible personality of Mourinho.

The latter can think of only one flashpoint in the relationship, when Roy Keane was sent off in the Champions League tie against Porto two years ago. Even so, Mourinho has a patronising reaction to Ferguson's prediction of a "massive turnaround" in the Premiership.

"I don't see a mind game, I see an optimistic person on the other side thinking very positive," said Mourinho, before caricaturing the Scot's argument. "He thinks Manchester United will win their five matches and he thinks Chelsea will lose their five matches. I like optimistic people. I think Manchester United can't win every game between now and the end of the season."

For his own part, the Stamford Bridge manager can stick to the indisputable fact that his side will retain the championship if they take full points from their last two home games, the second of them being against United. He purports, with today's match at Bolton in mind, to be relaxed at the thought of a deterioration in Chelsea's situation: "I prefer to be four points ahead than four behind."

There were only brief glimpses of concern from Mourinho. The schedule peeves him, for instance, because United's home match with Sunderland, the bottom club, was brought forward to last night for live television coverage. The effect has been to allow Ferguson's squad 24 hours extra rest before they play at White Hart Lane on Monday. Mourinho would have little time for the explanation that a Manchester United game against virtually anyone, including Sunderland, is good box office for broadcasters.

Chelsea's own encounter is with Bolton at the Reebok. The champions have already lost three away games in the Premiership this season and the manager maintains there has been a change of circumstances since last season rather than a simple decline.

"It's a different situation," Mourinho argued. "Even with the end of (last) season arriving there were still questions about the mental capacity of the team to stay top of the league and win the league for the first time. This season was different. By the end of October the team was already top by a comfortable distance. The way the team had to react to that reality was different."

He has not always been happy with the response. Mourinho takes little comfort from the theory that the side regains form when it senses pressure returning. "Maybe," he said, "but I am not happy with that. I think a professional team has to play with the same motivation in every game. But they are human beings."

While he says he would be "happy" to enter next season with the same squad, Mourinho wants to make signings, including that of Bayern Munich's Michael Ballack, that will eradicate staleness. His annoyance is revealed when he growls that Chelsea's away form "could not be worse".

Their last victory on the road, at West Brom on March 4th, was secured after the dismissal of Arjen Robben. Mourinho toys with the idea that playing with 10 men is his best tactic these days. He hopes that last Sunday's recovery to defeat West Ham 4-1, following the loss of the opener and the red card for Maniche, was the trigger for an upsurge in form.

"The game showed the character of the team," he said. "It was a team together, a team with ambition, a team ready to fight. It was important for that." Mourinho is highly conscious that only a few battles need to be won before the title is finally secured.