Alex Neil aims to relish his brush with the 'Special One' Jose Mourinho.

The Premier League's youngest manager goes up against arguably the best in the current era at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but Neil is not about to take a backward step.

'He has been fantastic. He has done it in numerous countries as well so of course he is as good as anyone out there in the modern game,' said Neil. 'You can't question what he has done or what he is capable of doing. That goes without saying, but our focus is on us, not them.

'I don't treat this game any differently because of who their manager is. He has a job to do, I have a job to do. To be honest it is not about me versus Jose Mourinho, it is about Chelsea versus Norwich. I am just focussed on my team and getting the best out of them.

'This is always a crucial period. There are always so many games crammed into the run-in and then over the festive period. If you can get back-to-back wins under your belt then you can pull yourself up the league and put a lot of points on the board.'

Norwich's last win at Chelsea came in 1993, but Neil is not a fan of the history books.

'Statistics based over 20, 30, 40 years mean nothing to me as I wasn't here and neither were the players,' he said. 'I don't focus on that. I look at specific teams and patterns of play. That has more relevance.

'I think since I have been here I have had people telling me our record isn't good at certain clubs and to be fair in the main we have done pretty well in most of those places so hopefully that can continue.

'I didn't know we hadn't won in London for 14 games either but we came within 30 seconds of getting a win at West Ham we deserved so maybe we can go one step further this weekend.'