Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard believes the current squad at Stamford Bridge has the same winning mentality as the team assembled by Jose Mourinho.
It is three years since the "Special One" guided the club to their last Barclays Premier League title but there are high hopes this season under Carlo Ancelotti, with Lampard rating the side as comparable to the best he has played in.
"It's up there," said the 31-year-old England international. "The first year or two, when we won the league with Jose Mourinho, was a fantastic team as a group and as individuals. We were rock solid and everyone could see that.
"What we've done now, with a similar quality in the squad, is get back to that real strong mentality. It's very noticeable in the performances we've put in, particularly against Arsenal and then when we've played the big clubs.
"There are difficult moments in these games but there is a real determination about us and it's very nice to have that spirit back. Hopefully it can take us back to winning leagues again."
Despite sweeping aside Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, Chelsea then took just nine points from 18 in December but remained top of the table heading into 2010.
They face a major test in January because Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel have headed to the African Nations Cup in Angola.
The first match without their African quartet is the FA Cup clash against Watford at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
"Hopefully it won't affect us too much," Lampard said. "We lose four big players. We will miss them, obviously, but we have a big squad.
"We have to hope we don't get injuries, like other clubs in the Premier League, and if we don't we have a lot of options up front and in midfield, intelligent players that can play in different areas.
"We play five or six games in this period and think we'll be all right."
After Watford they return to league action with matches against Hull, Sunderland, Birmingham and Burnley in the first month of the year.
Lampard is hoping that the diamond formation that served Chelsea well in the first half of the season will still be successful with key players missing.
"It's a different formation and that has probably brought about a different style," he said.
"When you play with a diamond, with a lot of men in midfield, you have to try to play the ball through midfield and eventually get it up to your front two.
"We're trying to play a good brand of football. Because we are strong and can play both sides of the game people concentrate on how dogged we can be to get results but we're trying to entertain at the same time.
"The transition has been seamless from playing 4-3-3 for years, which was quite rigid."
