John Mikel Obi says he chose right in signing for Chelsea over Manchester United two years ago. Mikel, 21, was at the centre of an ugly tug-of-war between the two clubs and was pictured with a United shirt until the matter was resolved, at the cost of around £16million, and he made his Chelsea debut two years ago.

United have won both titles since and Mikel has been given a central role in winning it back for Chelsea, with confidence high at Stamford Bridge after fighting back to earn a draw against Sir Alex Ferguson's men at the weekend.

Mikel started in the 'Claude Makelele' role before being told to attack, allowing Chelsea to get themselves back in the game. Predictably, there was no dialogue between Mikel and Ferguson after the match.

"When I go out there I just want to play well," Mikel said.

"Maybe it turns out every time against Manchester United I play well but I just have to keep it going and make sure I do it in every game.

"I love being here - it is a fantastic club with fantastic people and I wish to be here for a very long time. I just have to keep on working hard and see what comes up."

A point preserved Chelsea's six-point lead on United, and Mikel wants to keep their rivals at arms length until the end of the campaign.

"That is what we want to achieve and I will pray we do that," he said.

"The first 10 minutes on Sunday was a bit difficult but after that we calmed down and passed the ball. From then until the end of the game we played much better than them."