DANNY HIGGINBOTHAM has assured Stoke City supporters that the players are not daunted by the task facing them at Premier League leaders Chelsea on Saturday.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have been in formidable form so far this season, having launched their title defence by hitting newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic for six.

While Higginbotham acknowledges the size of the task in front of City is huge, he still maintains the belief that the Potters can go there and pull off what would be a huge shock.

"It will be an unbelievably tough game for us, we all know that," he commented at today's pre-match press conference. "But at the end of the day, if we go there thinking about their last two games, then we might as well not bother turning up.

"We are massive underdogs, especially given the fact that they have won their last two games so emphatically, and we haven't yet got off the mark in the Premier League. But we want to go there in the right frame of mind and try to get a result we want.

"People will already be writing us off and saying it is just a matter of how many they score, but we don't believe that and neither does the gaffer.

Higginbotham added: "It will be tough, but like I said in football, there are freak results and hopefully there will be another one of them at the weekend."

City's last trip to West London in April culminated in an emphatic 7-0 defeat against the Premier League Champions, however, the former Manchester United and Sunderland defender is confident there will be no repeat of that this time round.

"It wasn't the best of days for us, and it wasn't nice to be on the end of a scoreline like that," he stated. "All of the lads who were playing that day will be desperate to make amends and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"We didn't defend too well, but at the same time you just have to hold your hands up and accept that they are one of the best teams in the world, and when they are on top of their game like that, then that can happen.

"I think they have scored almost 30 goals in their last five games, without conceding, so we have a massive job in front of us.

"It's fair to say that if they are 100% and we are 100% in terms of performance, they will come out on top. But even the best teams have days when they are not at their best, so we will go there with the belief that we can get something out of it."