Olivier Giroud believes winning the FA Cup can provide the springboard for Chelsea to challenge Manchester City for the title next season.

Chelsea take on Southampton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday knowing it is the only piece of silverware they can claim this term.

Blues' coach Antonio Conte has admitted he fears Manchester City, who have won the Premier League and Carabao Cup, are about to dominate English football.

They are currently 24 points ahead of last season's champions Chelsea in the table, but Giroud feels an FA Cup triumph can provide the boost they need to take into the next campaign.

He said: "Chelsea is a competitor. In the last 13 years, Chelsea have been the biggest club in this country because they have won the most.

"I signed here to win trophies. Obviously Manchester City have done very well this season to be champions and that's why it's (the title race) over for this year.

"But I believe we can compete very well next season. I am looking forward to that. But we need to finish the job this season.

"We are professionals, we are competitors and we will believe until the end. Obviously if we win the FA Cup it's a lot better than winning nothing.

"It will make a big difference to our summer. The FA Cup is very important. Since I have been in England everyone talks about the Premier League but the FA Cup is massive as well. I understand that and I really want it for the fans.

"Does it send out a message that it's not just about Manchester City this season and that there are other good teams out there? Yes, of course. It's very important to finish strong.

Giroud, who joined from Arsenal for £18m in January, played nine times at Wembley with the Gunners between 2012-18 and never lost.

That included three FA Cup Finals and the France forward added: "If I win it again, it would be my fourth FA Cup in five years.

"I want to carry on the good momentum because I was unbeaten at Wembley with Arsenal and I want to do it with Chelsea too.

"Southampton is a big step before the final. It will be a totally different game from when we beat them in the League 3-2 last week.

"We are expecting a stronger team. They will want to bounce back from that defeat against us.

"It is going to be tough and we need to start better than last week when we went 2-0 down."

Conte has suggested that he could start both Giroud and Morata up front against Mark Hughes' men after the duo combined well in the 2-1 win at Burnley last night.

Chelsea scored through a Nick Long own goal and a Victor Moses strike, but would have won more convincingly had Morata, who reacted angrily to being substituted, capitalised on some golden opportunities.

"We haven't played together much, but it is easy to play with this kind of player," Giroud said. "Obviously we have had an opportunity in training to work on it and we know exactly what the manager wants from us.

"I was a bit sad for Alvaro because he didn't score. I tried to help him in the first half and in the second half he could have scored as well. I wanted to assist him, but I will do that next time."

The victory means Chelsea have closed the gap to fourth-placed Spurs to just five points with four games remaining, while Liverpool are a further two clear.

A week ago Tottenham's qualification for the Champions League looked certain with them leading their London rivals by 10.

When asked if he feels whether Spurs will now be worried about Chelsea again, Giroud replied: "Yes. We will try to put pressure on Tottenham and Liverpool until the end.

"We know that we have to play Liverpool in the penultimate game. We are going to keep fighting until the end."