Many factors decide a tight title race but Jose Mourinho’s ability to cope with the pressure could give Chelsea the edge over the next few months.

The Blues go into tonight’s encounter with West Ham at Stamford Bridge on the back of seven successive wins in all competitions. And with nearly four months of the campaign to go, Mourinho appears to be getting increasingly under his rivals’ skin.

The reaction of his counterparts at Arsenal and Manchester City, Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini, over the sale of Juan Mata to Manchester United last week was telling.

Both men complained it was unfair of Chelsea to sell Mata to United, who have already played Chelsea twice in the League this season but have fixtures against the other two contenders still to come.

Significantly, Wenger also rose to the bait after Mourinho claimed Arsenal always benefit from a generous fixture list — the Frenchman being irked enough to waste time on the eve of last night’s costly 2-2 draw at Southampton to provide evidence to the contrary.

Mourinho has also spent the past few months taking every opportunity to insist the Championship is City’s to lose, much to Pellegrini’s chagrin.

In truth, all three are under strain: Wenger has not won any silverware at Arsenal since 2005; Pellegrini has the best squad in the country but is in his first season in English football; meanwhile, Mourinho is all too aware that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich demands success.

But while the other two men are already starting to show frayed nerves, Mourinho seems to be relishing the psychological battle. His relaxed mood was evident as he brought Cristal champagne to his pre-match press conference yesterday as part of his 51st birthday celebrations.

Most importantly, his behaviour keeps the limelight off Chelsea’s players, just as it did first time around when he won five major trophies at Stamford Bridge between 2004-7.

He said: “The only thing my players can benefit from is that they look at me and see that I’m calm. I’m comfortable and, for me, it’s very normal if we are there [at the top of the table].

“That’s the only thing I can give them, apart from normal work. The work we do always, we’ll do the same: the same professionalism whether we are second or seventh. [I make sure that when] they look at me, they see I’m fine.

“I think the team are playing well. You never know in the next match but the results are arriving as a consequence of the team playing good football.”

West Ham have won just one League game in two months but Mourinho is not taking anything for granted.

Indeed, with City playing at Tottenham tonight, he is hoping for a home win because of his desire to secure Champions League football for next season. He added: “I would prefer City to win because if they win and we win, we open up a gap to Tottenham and United. If you can have a safe spot by February and play the rest of the season without the pressure we had at Chelsea until the last day last season, that would be fantastic.

“I don’t want to fail in that objective. As a club and as a team, we need that. We want to play in the Champions League. It’s important for the evolution of the team, for financial and prestigious reasons for the club.”

Mourinho’s antics may not have everyone fooled but he will not care should Chelsea put Wenger and Pellegrini in the shade.