ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE/Sunderland 0 Chelsea 1: RESPECT WAS the watchword here on Saturday evening. Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, said his team deserved it. Nyron Nosworthy, the Sunderland defender, argued the Black Cats were being shown it.

But, as ever, the only respect in which a game ultimately matters is the result. Sunderland took great heart from their performance but Chelsea took the points and are now only three behind Manchester United and Arsenal, having played a game fewer than the Gunners.

Although their last trip north ended in an embarrassing FA Cup defeat by Barnsley, Chelsea have not lost a league game since the 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on December 16th.

Having been widely written out of the title race at the start of the year, Grant's side are central to the story again, particularly as both Arsenal and Manchester United still have to travel to Stamford Bridge before May - none of which is bad for a club supposedly in crisis following their exit from the FA Cup and defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final, as Grant was happy to point out.

"At the beginning of the season no one believed that we would be in this position, so we need to make the best of it and do the best we can," the Chelsea manager said. "Do I think that people have underestimated us? I think yes in many ways.

"There are nine games to go and we have to do our job but there is not one person in the club who does not believe (they can win the title)."

Not for the first time Chelsea had their captain, John Terry, to thank for the win, firstly, for scoring the only goal, his first in the league since August 2006 - a header from Frank Lampard's corner - and then for the manner in which he marshalled the defence to repel Sunderland's spirited attempt to force an equaliser.

"We are right in the mix. In a great position," Terry said. "A few months ago we were 13 points behind. We are quietly coming up on the rails and playing very well. We have been here before and it's at times like this when the experience comes through.

"We had to dig our heels in. That first season we won the league we had a lot of 1-0 victories. We went 1-0 up in a lot of games and other teams made it difficult. Sunderland came at us and had a few chances. We had to soak it up and deal with the pressure, they are a good side."

Terry, like a lot of observers this season, is convinced Sunderland have enough quality to stay up, particularly with the striker Kenwyne Jones in their ranks, a player he described as the "best in the air" in the Premier League.

Jones is a nuisance for any defence but he should have equalised in the second half when he missed two good headed chances. He also happened to be Terry's marker when the centre back scored at the other end, so it was not all heady praise for the Trinidad and Tobago international.

Sunderland's manager, Roy Keane, was also impressed with his side's efforts, although he was clearly unimpressed by the behaviour of five of his other first-team regulars. Kieran Richardson, Daryl Murphy, Michael Chopra, Danny Higginbotham and Anthony Stokes were all left out of the squad because they "lacked intensity in training", though Keane denied rumours that they were being punished for an impromptu midweek drinking session.

Nosworthy added: "Clubs like Chelsea are showing us respect but a defeat is a defeat. We have to play like we did against Chelsea in every game now.

"We did not stand off them and we weren't in awe of them. We have to be positive and brave in our last eight games and we will be fine."

Former Cork City striker Roy O'Donovan is gearing up for "eight cup finals" as his first Premier League campaign heads towards a tense conclusion. "We have got eight games left, eight cup finals as the cliche goes, and I want to be involved as much as I can.

"We were a bounce of the ball away from winning the game on Saturday, just something going our way, but it wasn't to be.

"But we need to forget about all the games that have gone before and start afresh next week against Aston Villa away in a tough game. We need to start getting results."