Luiz Felipe Scolari hopes to bring Joe Cole back into his Chelsea squad for the Barclays Premier League match away to Hull City tomorrow. The England midfield player has been out for three weeks with a foot injury that he suffered in the 2-0 win over Aston Villa, but has trained with the first team for the past few days and is close to full fitness.

Cole is likely to start on the bench at the KC Stadium, although Scolari may call on him sooner rather than later. The manager substituted both of his wide players, Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda, before an hour had elapsed of Sunday's 1-0 defeat by Liverpool, reflecting his dissatisfaction.

Chelsea are confident of embarking on another long unbeaten run after the weekend setback and Petr Cech, the goalkeeper, believes that their record of 86 home league matches without defeat will never be beaten.

“We have to bounce back,” Cech said. “Defeats happen in football and you have to forget about it and start again. I don't think anyone will get close to going 86 games unbeaten at home again - it is a fantastic record.”

Cech believes that Liverpool's surprise victory marks them out as title contenders. “It is good for their confidence, but there are a lot of games to go,” he said. “They are top and genuine contenders. They didn't play very well at the start of the season, but have been getting results.”