Captain John Terry believes Chelsea's "massive" Capital One Cup final win over Tottenham could be the start of something special for the Blues.
Terry's goal on the stroke of half-time put Chelsea in front at Wembley and a Diego Costa shot that deflected in off Kyle Walker 11 minutes into the second half secured a 2-0 win.
The trophy is the first Chelsea have won since Jose Mourinho returned to the club in 2013 but Terry hopes it is the first of many for the current crop.
Asked how important the win might be for the development of the Chelsea team, Terry told Sky Sports 1: “That’s the first one, it’s massive. It meant an awful lot to us (to win the League Cup) in 2004/05 in Jose’s first year here.
“That (Sunday’s win) could be the start of something very good but we have to kick on and we have the league to focus on, but it’s a great day and a great win today.
“The pressure was there before the game, obviously, but that’s what cup finals do to you. I thought we played very well, handled the game very well and delighted with the win.
“I think it was fairly even first half, second half I thought we controlled it a little bit better and deserved winners.”
Mourinho heaped praise on his players after winning the 21st trophy of his managerial career, above all on those who did not even play in the final but had played a big part in getting the Blues there, such as Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis.
However, with another London derby against West Ham coming up in the Premier League in midweek, the Portuguese also said Sunday’s celebrations would be kept to a minimum — 20 minutes to be precise.
In lauding his entire squad, rather than just those who featured on Sunday, Mourinho said: “We took the competition seriously. Everyone was fantastic in this run.
“All these guys are men of the match for me, maybe more than John (Terry) and maybe more than the lucky ones to play this final.
“I feel really sorry for the other ones who didn’t play, so for me they are the man of the match because this is a team.”
He added: “I’m really proud of the guys, but celebrations in 20 minutes, (then) over, goodbye, train tomorrow, we have another game on Wednesday.”
Mourinho was quick to praise Tottenham and their manager Mauricio Pochettino after the match as well.
He said: “I’m really happy. I think I should start by talking about Tottenham and about Mauricio, because they are a fantastic team.
“He’s building a great team, they gave us a very difficult match and I feel sorry for them. He (Pochettino) is doing a fantastic work and is having a great evolution in his career.”
