Chelsea, already Group D winners before last night's draw with the Cypriot minnows, have seen their lead in the English top flight whittled down from five points to two by Manchester United.

The Blues entertain Everton on Saturday and will go into the game without a win in their last three outings.

More defensive lapses cost them victory against APOEL at Stamford Bridge with John Mikel Obi guilty of a stray pass that allowed substitute Nenad Mirosavljevic to score an 86th-minute equaliser.

The Cypriots had taken the lead in the sixth minute through Marcin Zewlakow - the first goal Chelsea had conceded at the Bridge since Hull's Stephen Hunt hit the net on the opening day of the domestic season back in August.

Goals from Michael Essien and Didier Drogba then put the Blues in command by half-time until Mikel's error allowed Ivan Jovanovic's side to cash in, much to the fury of Ancelotti.

The focus now returns to the Premier League and Cole insists Chelsea need to be at the top when the new year arrives.

The Blues have three home games against Everton, Portsmouth and Fulham with two tricky away contests at West Ham and Birmingham before the end of the year, and Cole says they could not be more important.

"It has been a bit of a bumpy week and we need to bounce back at the weekend and get back to winning ways," declared Cole. "Hopefully we can do that on Saturday.

"The next five Premier League games are very important. The Christmas period is always vital. We want to still be sitting on top of the league at the start of January. If we do that we'll be very happy.

"Any team can beat you in the Premier League and it's very difficult to win games. There are no excuses. We're sitting on top of the league now and need to be sitting there on January 1."

Chelsea are today sweating on the fitness of Essien, who was forced out of action with a hamstring strain minutes after scoring the equaliser.

The Blues will be hoping the Ghanaian midfielder, who is out of the Everton clash, will not be sidelined for a long period.

But Cole is confident they can cope with his absence if scans show the injury to be serious enough to put him out of the game for a significant amount of time.

"We'll miss Michael, but obviously we've still got Deco, Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti can play there," added Cole.

"We've got a good squad and this is what it's for."

Captain John Terry added that last Saturday's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City had been a "wake-up call" for the Blues.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech, rested for last night's game against APOEL, admitted responsibility for Carlos Tevez's free-kick winner at Eastlands while midfielder Frank Lampard, who missed a penalty in the same game, started last night's encounter on the bench.

Terry is adamant Everton, despite their injury woes and poor league position, will provide Ancelotti's side with another stern test as questions continue to be asked about their defensive strength.

But the England captain also senses that the momentum needs to increased after their defeat to City.

The Blues had beaten Porto in the Champions League and Arsenal in Barclays Premier only to come unstuck against Blackburn in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup and City in the league.

"After coming away with two great wins on our travels, the two defeats hurt," said Terry.

"Hardly anyone wins at Porto and that result won us the group. No one has won at Arsenal since we last did and that result put us five points clear at the top of the league.

"So going up to Manchester City and losing, our second defeat of the week, not only hurt, it is not what this Chelsea is about.

"It has got to be a real wake-up call. We are still top by two points and this emphasises that the Premier league is not a walk, it is a big, big battle.

"Manchester City were not playing well in the build-up to our match. You can imagine the lift they have got from the outcome.

"Everton will be the same at the weekend. They are just getting players back and, after the draw against Tottenham, will believe they can get a result."