Jose Mourinho is confident of winning the Premier League title and feels he "owes" Loic Remy after the striker came off the bench to lead Chelsea to a 3-2 victory over Hull at the KC Stadium.
Chelsea looked on course for a routine victory on Sunday when Eden Hazard crashed home an opener inside two minutes and Diego Costa doubled their advantage with another impressive strike on 10 minutes.
However, Ahmed Elmohamady was able to reduce the deficit when turning home Andrew Robertson's cross on 27 minutes, and the Tigers found an equaliser moments later when Thibaut Courtois' loose touch set up Abel Hernandez for the simplest of finishes.
The home side then looked the more likely to force a winner and Courtois was forced into an excellent triple save with 64 minutes on the clock, but Chelsea restored their advantage on 77 minutes when Remy's shot somehow found its way past Allan McGregor.
"The title race should be over, in normal conditions Chelsea should have eight, 10 or 12 more points than we have but football is unpredictable," Mourinho told the club's official website. "The reality is that we have a six-point lead, the best situation we've had all season.
"The maximum distance we had was eight points but at that point we had 20 matches to go. At this moment we have a six-point lead with one match in hand, which could help us or not. I'm pretty confident, I believe in my players, I believe we can do it but I know it's difficult.
"We let the lead go but we played fantastic football with the ball from the first minute. When at half time it's 2-2 and you want to win the game, the most important thing is to play how we did from the start, that's what I told the players.
"There was no point analysing details and mistakes. We had to get back to playing the football we lost in the last 15 minutes of the first half.
"From the first minute of the second half we went back to quality football, creation and movement. Sooner or later the goal was going to arrive.
"In the second half we played, there was a difficult situation on the break when Thibaut had to make three saves in a few seconds. After that we created and tried everything, so I think we deserved it.
"If we didn't win the game after the way we played we would have had the same feeling as Southampton. Today by winning we got what we deserved and it's a good feeling."
Hull scored twice in quick succession to level the game, and Mourinho admitted the second goal in particular was a collective mistake from his side.
"If we tell our goalkeeper every time he has a back pass to kick it in the stands the second goal wouldn't happen but we don't do that," he said. "He tried to play, lost the rebound, the defenders didn't open a passing line to play from the back and it's a goal.
"Everybody was unhappy. It was just a question of stability, emotional control and playing."
Chelsea forward Costa departed for match-winner Remy, with Mourinho confirming initial fears of a hamstring injury for the Spain international.
"It's a hamstring injury," he said. "When a striker is playing, the team needs a goal to win the game and he says it's over for him, it's over. He tried to play the Champions League final with Atletico [Madrid] and was injured, he has that fragility, we know his hamstring is not a strong one.
"He works hard in the week to compensate for the weakness he has there but the injury can come. We have Remy and [Didier] Drogba, we never cry about injured players so let's move on."
Mourinho praised Remy's impact from the bench, adding: "Every time he plays he's there. He probably deserves more than what I've given him. Sometimes a coach can feel he owes something to a player and with Remy that's the case.
"I think I owe him something, every time he plays he gives us a lot, I'm so happy for him because he deserves it."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.