Saturday's FA Cup humiliation at the hands of Bradford must be a watershed moment in Chelsea's season, according to Gary Cahill.
The task they now is simple, he says. Chelsea have to react the right way against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge tonight or they will go out of a second cup competition in four days.
Last week Chelsea thrashed Swansea 5-0 in Wales and then held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of this Capital One Cup semi-final, and all the talk was of becoming the first team to complete the fabled quadruple of League title, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.
That dream was well and truly shattered by League One opposition on one of the most remarkable Saturday afternoons seen in recent years at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea, two goals up and cruising, were humbled 4-2 by the team 48 places below them in the football pyramid.
But now, according to Cahill, it is all about how they fight back, recover their pride, their purpose, against a Liverpool side who come to Stamford Bridge having overcome their own mid-season wobbles, and on a run of 10 games unbeaten.
The England defender said: "We were so disappointed with what happened on Saturday. It's unbelievable.
"It was a shock - maybe a wake-up call. We have a huge game that we have to go all-in in now.
"What will happen if we play the same way we played against Bradford? The obvious things that happen when you play like that against good teams.
"I don't think anyone has seen us play like that at Stamford Bridge for a long time. Who knows the reason behind it?
"It is the best thing now to be facing Liverpool in a game like this. We have obviously reflected on the Bradford game but we have to get that out of our system and be ready.
"It's a massive game - then we have Manchester City on Saturday, which is huge in terms of the League. So they are two games at Stamford Bridge, where we are usually very strong, that we need to bounce back in."
It is a pivotal week in Chelsea's season, but when they have slipped up this season, in defeats at Newcastle and Tottenham in the league, they have bounced back immediately with runs of five and three wins respectively.
Cahill knows the danger of complacency though, and warned of the danger of Liverpool's young forward Raheem Sterling, who scored their goal at Anfield last week after Eden Hazard's penalty had given Chelsea the lead.
He said: "I have played with Raheem for England, he's very fast, very mobile and can play up front or on the left and right. He is a dangerous opponent.
"What happened on Saturday showed that you can't take anything for granted, you can't take your foot off the gas even for 10 minutes, no matter who you're playing against.
"I have been in the game long enough now to know that you can play well for periods of a game, but it lasts for 90 minutes. You can get hurt - and we got hurt late on against Bradford."
Mourinho has promised to ring the changes tonight after such a huge embarrassment. Skipper John Terry will return, as will Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, top scorer Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic.
Mourinho, whose 52nd birthday celebrations yesterday will have been muted in the circumstances, indicated his disappointment at the lack of strength in depth exposed by the Bradford, and suggested that perhaps people will now understand why he does not rotate his team very much.
"I was frustrated after the first leg because Liverpool gave us a lot of space. We could have hurt them much more than we did there," he said.
"I saw enough space to score more goals. But the team had discipline, very good individual commitment and effort.
"Of course it is important to try to go to Wembley. At the end of May we won't be going go to an FA Cup final now, or even a semi-final. The FA Cup is finished for us. So to go there should mean a lot to everyone. We need to forget Bradford. We are one victory from the final."
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