May 17, 2015 13:31:13 UK
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that getting skipper John Terry back up to top form was crucial to his side winning the Premier League title this season.
The 34-year-old former England centre-half has been a key figure in the Blues being crowned champions for the first time since 2010, having been linked with a move away from Stanford Bridge before Mourinho returned in the summer of 2013.
I always thought he was going to improve and I’d have a good player, but he came to a fantastic level.
Jose Mourinho
And the Portuguese says the pair have helped each other to drive the Londoners back to the top of the English game.
He said ahead of a Monday evening trip to The Hawthorns to take on West Bromwich Albion: “I think he knows that, without me, he probably wouldn’t be at Chelsea in this moment, but I also know that, probably without him, I would not be again Premier League champion.
“I thought he was in trouble (when I came back). I thought he was over.
“He hadn’t played for the previous two years, two or three consecutive matches. I thought there was something wrong and that he couldn’t get back to his normal level.
“Probably, with another manager he wouldn’t play and without playing he wouldn’t have another contract.
“I always thought he was going to improve and I’d have a good player, but he came to a fantastic level.”
The Blues will be without Kurt Zouma (knee), Ramires (kidney) and Oscar (thigh) for the trip to the Black Country, with Chelsea having earned just one point from their last three visits to The Hawthorns.
Mourinho’s men can be backed at 1.95 to win on Monday evening and are 2.37 to keep a clean sheet, with Terry available at 7.50 to score at any time.
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