The Blues face a second home game in the space of four days when we welcome West Bromwich Albion to Stamford Bridge later today, and Oscar is confident our midweek Champions League win over Schalke can act as a catalyst for another sequence of positive results.
The Brazilian started on Wednesday against the German side, one of only five players to have retained his place in the team following last weekend’s defeat at Newcastle, before being replaced by Frank Lampard late on.
Having gone nine matches unbeaten prior to the disappointment at St James’s Park, we responded in an emphatic manner against Schalke, running out convincing 3-0 winners, and Oscar believes a similar run of form over the coming weeks will enable us to apply the pressure on Barclays Premier League leaders Arsenal.
‘It’s very important we get a victory against West Brom,’ he tells the official Chelsea website. ‘We are second now, and we need to build another sequence of victories in order to help us reach the top of the table.
‘Our target is to be at the top until the end of the season so we have to go on another good run of results, and I’m pretty sure we will be able to do it.
‘All games in the Premier League are difficult and West Brom will be no different, but we are playing really well at home and I’m sure we are going to produce a good performance.
‘Of course, if we play to our capabilities it will be very difficult for them to get anything out of the game, but we need to be focused from the beginning of the match.’
With Manchester United and Arsenal facing off 24 hours after our game against Steve Clarke’s side, a sixth consecutive home league win for the Blues would leave us in a strong position, regardless of the outcome in the north west.
For now, however, Oscar is focusing solely on our own game, and simply stresses the importance of ensuring we overcome a West Brom side who were good enough to win away at Old Trafford last month.
‘We have to win our game at home and not think about any of our opponents and whether or not they will lose points,’ he says. ‘It’s important we win our own game and that’s the way we have to be for the rest of the season because everybody has dropped points.
‘There are always tough games in this league so it’s important we perform. Only after we make sure we get the right outcome can we think about other results.’
With the campaign now almost three months in, Oscar, who has started all but two of our Premier League matches, can be pleased with his performances thus far.
The Brazilian has five goals to his name, but he paid tribute to the collective efforts of the side in the final third, with no less than 14 players finding the target for us already this season.
‘It’s very important to score and make goals, I’m really happy to have contributed but the fact a lot of players have been scoring for us is fantastic,’ he says.
‘Obviously the more players we have in the side who can score goals, the better, and we don’t want to just depend on one player. It’s important that we are all sharp and able to contribute in the matches.’
Join Jason Cundy and Ben Andrews for Pre-match at the Bridge on Chelsea TV from 2pm, where the duo will be bringing you the latest team news and exclusive player interviews ahead of the game.