John Terry has admitted he was reduced to tears by the wasteful end to Chelsea’s Premier League title challenge last season, but is confident the additions to the spine of José Mourinho’s team have strengthened their challenge this time around.

There was a period towards the end of the last campaign when the London club had their destiny in their own hands, only to drop points wastefully at Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and, most damagingly of all, at home to Sunderland and Norwich City. That left them trailing in third behind Manchester City and Liverpool, though the arrival of Diego Costa and Cesc Fàbregas, and the continued development of Nemanja Matic, have hoisted their ambitions.

“I was in tears over the Premier League last year, over throwing that away and not winning it,” said Terry. “That’s what I play for week in, week out. I’m never scared to show my emotions. I just want to win trophies, that’s what I’m born to do, it’s in me from when I was a kid. I just want to win games, whether that’s in the Premier League or the Champions League.

“Those three signings are quality, all unbelievable players but big characters as well, on and off the pitch. What I call real men, and players with great experience as well. Matic had to come to Portugal [with Benfica] and gain experience, but came back to Chelsea a completely different player and a man now. He was superb again against Sporting. Cesc has been in England before so he knew what to expect, and you expect him to hit the ground running, which he’s done.

“With Diego we didn’t know. We’ve seen it before: some strikers take months and months. But he’s hit the ground running. Eight goals already is superb and it’s great for us. He’s a good character, a great character. Without speaking a word of English he gets by and gets on great with everyone. He puts himself about but gets up and battles on, and plays with little niggles. That’s what you want. That’s why he’s come to the Premier League: to win. He made that clear to everyone in pre-season. He’s come here to win trophies. That’s what he wants to do.”

Terry raised a century of appearances in the Champions League proper – he is the sixth Englishman to achieve that landmark – in Tuesday’s victory at Sporting Lisbon having made his debut in the competition 11 years ago in a 2-0 home defeat to Besiktas. The European Cup has been cruel to him at times in the seasons since, most notably with his miss in the penalty shootout in the final in 2008 with the trophy within reach, and the red card he accrued for kicking Alexis Sánchez, then with Barcelona, in the semi-final four years later. He will confront the Chilean again at Stamford Bridge on Sunday when Arsenal make the trip across the capital seeking to avenge last season’s 6-0 defeat in the same fixture.

The Chelsea captain, who signed a new one-year contract in the summer, still aspires to claiming the Champions League with the club. “There have been many [highlights] over the years but, when we beat Barça and Bayern Munich in the early days, the first taste of it…” said the centre-half. “But for me the most important thing is not just the 100 appearances but to strive to go on and win it again for the club. On a personal note I’m delighted to reach that many games, it’s a great achievement, I think only 28 players have done it. So to stay in a great side for that long and to play that many games is an honour.

“I hope this team is good enough to win it again. That’s obviously the target, the mentality of where we are as a club, and it has been for the last 10 years or so since the owner came in. With José Mourinho back in now, that’s our target and that’s the standard. Maybe 10 years ago when we first came into it that wasn’t the expectation but now, with the money that’s been invested, the players we have and the experience we have in the competition, that’s always the target.

“I’m still driven on by missing the final two years ago. The biggest night ever for the club, and I didn’t play in it. But I played in one [in Moscow] and I felt a massive part of it, and the players made me feel a huge part of Munich. Along the way you look back at games, like the Napoli game [in the 2012 last-16 tie] and others where you played a big part as well. But, because it’s me, people look and say: ‘He’s not won it.’ People like to have their digs and their pops, but I know I played a huge part, in the dressing room and on the field as well, so I count myself to have won it. No one speaks about the other 10 players who weren’t on the pitch that night in Munich as well. Maybe that’s me and that’s where I am at as a player.”