If Manchester United’s chase of an unprecedented quintuple is over, Chelsea’s pursuit of the treble is very much on. It may have slipped in quietly under the radar but Guus Hiddink, already lauded as the saviour of Stamford Bridge for resuscitating the team’s faltering campaign, now has designs on winning the Barclays Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

What began as a rescue mission when Hiddink replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in February — “Just get us into the Champions League,” Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, requested — has grown legs. Hiddink, his initial task as good as completed, is homing in on a handful of trophies.

Hiddink concedes that the Premier League crown may be beyond them, despite six wins in seven matches under the Dutchman and the prospect of another victory when Everton visit West London this evening. Chelsea may have too much ground to make up on United and Liverpool, but while it remains possible, Hiddink will continue to exhort his players to greater efforts.

“As long as we have the chance, mathematically or even a bit more, to chase them down is perfect,” he said yesterday. “We still take these games seriously, even though we have the Champions League and the FA Cup coming up. As long as it’s possible for us, we go on. The pressure is more on Liverpool than us in terms of Manchester United and the title.

“The treble? Mathematically, it’s possible. In February we had to make sure we qualified for next year’s Champions League, but you cannot just be satisfied with that at such a big club. Everybody has done what is expected of him, so you push your targets higher. If you’d told us in February that we’d be playing in the FA Cup Final on May 30, people would have raised eyebrows.”

Hiddink now has to juggle the demands of a league title challenge, a two-leg Champions League semi-final against Barcelona and the Cup Final against Everton and is unlikely to rest his players en masse, as Sir Alex Ferguson did in the Cup semi-final defeat by Everton on Sunday. “That was up to their philosophy or policy,” Hiddink said. “If someone is getting into the overload threat, maybe they play only half a game.”

Howard Webb will realise a lifetime’s ambition after being announced as the referee for the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Everton. The 37-year-old police officer from Rotherham was fourth official at the first final at the new Wembley in 2007. “When I started out as a referee 20 years ago, the final was very distant,” he said.

“It is the realisation of a dream.”