Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho wants his players to embrace the challenge of defending their Premier League crown.

Mourinho is keen for his players to step up to the "big challenge" of improving on last season's success with a relatively unchanged squad.

He told talkSPORT: "It means a lot [to be champions] and I want players to feel it in a positive way. We've seen a big reaction from teams that didn't win title.

"Chelsea had a reaction when we weren't champions. In a week in June we bought (Cesc) Fabregas and Diego (Costa). This summer, title opponents have been very very strong, they are much stronger.

"It is a big challenge for us with the same team to try to be better. It will be difficult but we have to try."