Guus makes Cup a priority to lift the Chelsea gloom

GUUS HIDDINK believes Chelsea’s precarious league position has given the squad an added incentive to win the Cup.

The Dutchman guided the team to a 2-1 win over Everton at Wembley in 2009 during his first spell as interim boss after replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Despite an unbeaten start to Hiddink’s second stint in charge, Chelsea remain in the bottom half of the Premier League and face a difficult tie against Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League next month.

As a result, Hiddink, whose side host League One Scunthorpe today, insists the FA Cup is high on his priority list.

‘Of course Chelsea are always going for the top positions,’ he said. ‘But this season it’s very difficult. We now have to focus on what’s coming up and this is the FA Cup.

‘The impact of the FA Cup worldwide is huge. You get the reaction from, let’s say Australia through to Asia, to the west coast of the United States.

‘When you are about to win a trophy, that is very nice. The FA Cup is up there but I’ve also won the European Cup which was a huge achievement.

‘With Real Madrid we also won the World Club Cup which has another image to what it has now. I considered that as a huge achievement as well.’

Yet Hiddink, 69, has stressed he will not continue as manager once the season is over even if he repeats his success of 2009.