Jose Mourinho praises Chelsea 'band of brothers' after gritty 1-0 win over West Ham

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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has spent 21 months since returning to Stamford Bridge trying to mould the team spirit that he craves - and now he seems to have achieved it, labelling his side as a band of 'brothers'.

Chelsea ground out a hard-fought 1-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday night and their manager reserved special praise for the togetherness of his players, with John Terry and co embracing at the final whistle before applauding the travelling support.

The scenes were similar to a defining game of Mourinho's first spell at Chelsea, in an away game at Blackburn in February 2005 when Arjen Robben split the sides in a gritty Ewood Park clash.

Chelsea captain John Terry (right) leads Jose Mourinho's band of 'brothers' to the away support at full-time

Terry, Gary Cahill (second left), Thibaut Courtois (second right) and Branislav Ivanovic (right) celebrate

Mourinho celebrates victory at full-time in what he considers one of the toughest away games of the season

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And manager Mourinho believes that collective show of strength is exactly the sort of thing the league leaders will need to get them over the line in the Barclays Premier League title race. 

The Special One also confirmed that his players would be enjoying two days off with a week's gap until they play Paris Saint-Germain in the return of their Champions League last-16 tie.

‘My team were brothers on the pitch,' Mourinho said. 'That is important if you are to win the most difficult league in the world. I want to sleep now until midday. We could easily have lost two points.

‘The way West Ham play, nobody is better than them. They are the best at the way they play. It is not just to play football, the pressure, the tension and the emotion, my players were fantastic.

‘I told the referee is it very difficult to be a ref here, because of the style of their game. Lots of long balls. West Ham had lots of balls in the box, very difficult, very intense and really difficult for the referee.

They complain for everything, the crowd is behind them and it is really, really difficult.'

The Chelsea players, led by Mourinho (fourth left) leave the pitch at Ewood Park after winning in 2005

Arjen Robben is congratulated by Damien Duff and Eidur Gudjohnsen after scoring against Blackburn

Joe Cole tries to skip between Robbie Savage (second left) and Lucas Neill (right) on a tough night for CHelsea

Eden Hazard scored the winner at Upton Park and was one of Chelsea's best players even after playing a full part in Chelsea's Capital One Cup final triumph over Tottenham on Sunday.

And Mourinho led the plaudits for the playmaker who he has criticised in the past for his work ethic. 

'Eden Hazard was fantastic,' he said. 'He is punished by opponents in a very hard way. Not in a violent way, just an aggressive football way because they tried to stop him but the kid is playing, scoring and defending.'

But the Portuguese coach was less impressed with the rescheduling of Chelsea's game against Leicester, which could have been held this weekend with both clubs out of the FA Cup but will instead take place on April 9.

‘It is not a good thing that we play Leicester in two months now - that’s not a good thing, for someone in the title race to have played one match less,' he said.

Cesar Azpiliceuta and Terry embrace as they leave the field together at full-time at Upton Park on Wednesday

Eden Hazard scored the only goal of the game against West Ham at Upton Park and drew Mourinho's praise

Hazard heads past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian to give Chelsea another three points in their title charge

Mourinho hugs another one of the 'brotherhood', his assistant Steve Holland at full-time on Wednesday