Nemanja Vidic says facing Fernando Torres at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday will hold no fears for him.
The Manchester United skipper is enjoying arguably his best season since arriving at Old Trafford five years ago.
At Wigan Athletic on Saturday, Vidic was his usual obdurate self, combining with veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to keep the Latics at bay during their enterprising opening.
However, after guiding United to a 4-0 win that put them four points ahead of nearest title challengers Arsenal, Vidic knows his next test is arguably his hardest.
Torres may be yet to score for Chelsea since his record £50m move from Liverpool but the Spain star has terrorised Vidic often enough for the Serbian to be very wary about their next meeting.
Yet, despite their history, Vidic is keeping his cool.
SOME PEOPLE
"Sometimes you read people saying that certain players have a hard job to play against someone else," said Vidic.
"Obviously, this is the opinion some people have (about him and Torres) because they always mention it.
"I don't have a problem with that. I can only change it on the pitch, not by saying what I think in the media. It actually just makes me more focused to do my job."
There is another common theory that has attached itself to this week's match, namely that Chelsea, who have now slipped 15 points adrift of United, will be out of the running if they fail to win.
John Terry said as much last week and Vidic is hardly going to disagree.
"They are so many points behind, it would be very difficult for them to come back," he said.
"But anything can happen. If you look at the league and how many points we have lost and the games Chelsea lost in
\
cool huh?
manchester united v chelsea
19:45