New Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has fond memories of his time as a Chelsea player, but he’ll be concentrating on ensuring he makes it three cup wins in a row against them as a coach/manager when he welcomes them to the Stadium of Light for this Capital One Cup Round 5 clash.

The Uruguayan spent four years as a player at Stamford Bridge, scoring 36 league goals in 105 appearances, helping them to an FA Cup, Charity Shield, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

But since leaving the club in 2001, Poyet has enjoyed two important victories over the Blues in the League Cup. Firstly, he was part of the Tottenham Hotspur side that beat Chelsea 5-1 in the League Cup semi-final second leg in January 2002. And then he went on to help mastermind a 2-1 victory over the Blues in the final as Juande Ramos’ assistant.

Now, following wins as a player and a coach, he has the chance to make it a hat-trick of wins in three different roles with a Capital One Cup victory.

Since taking the Sunderland job at the beginning of October, Poyet has not quite instilled consistency into his players. Wins over arch-rivals Newcastle United and title contenders Manchester City have both been followed by losses to Hull and Stoke City respectively.

But his side’s victory over high-flying Southampton in Round 4 of the Capital One Cup  proved that he is making progress early in his Stadium of Light tenure, particularly as he inherited a squad at an all-time low.

However, Jose Mourinho’s record in the Capital One Cup stands in the way of Poyet’s chances of a hat-trick victory over Chelsea.

The Portuguese manager won the League Cup twice during his first spell as Chelsea boss and, having not started off particularly well in his second coming, will have his sights set on lifting the trophy for a third time.

But Sunderland’s stuttering revival under Poyet has to hit full flow soon and a cup run could be exactly what they need to instill the confidence needed to pull away from the bottom of the Premier League and ensure top-flight survival.

Despite Mourinho’s success in the competition in the past, he may be tempted to field a weakened side at the Stadium of Light due to a busy fixture schedule over Christmas, which could give Poyet’s side the upper hand and the added belief that a win is a realistic possibility. After all, they did beat a full-strength Manchester City side last month.

Poyet was a loved by Chelsea fans when he was there as a player but, since leaving, he has only been a thorn in the side of the Chelsea faithful in their pursuit of League Cup glory.

Now he has the chance to do it all again as a manager in the Capital One Cup and, whether he has that in mind or not, it would be some record to hold if he does manage to pull it off.

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