Cash blow for Jose

Chief executive Peter Kenyon was paid an astonishing £2m in bonuses last year on top of his £1.5m salary and Mourinho can expect to be handsomely rewarded if he pulls off a Champions League and Premiership double. Chelsea's players are rewarded for success in every game of the season, picking up an extra £4,000 for a win and £1,500 for a draw.

Abramovich may consider the Carling Cup to be small beer, but Mourinho is desperate to collect his first trophy in English football on Sunday and will select a full-strength side to face Liverpool.

Eidur Gudjohnsen is expected to start up front in place of Didier Drogba and the Icelandic striker credits Mourinho with revitalising the entire competition.

He said: "We've always made it clear from the start that we were taking this competition seriously, as has the manager.

"With two big teams like Liverpool and Chelsea in the final, the competition this year has had a spark about it, which has been needed over the last few years. Maybe our manager's mentality about the tournament will spread a little bit."

Mourinho, meanwhile, has been told there are no grounds for a repeat of his Barcelona ref rage in Cardiff.

The players' dressing rooms and the officials' room at the Millennium Stadium are on different floors so Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will have to climb a flight of stairs to speak to referee Steve Bennett.

The Football League are confident that Bennett, who started refereeing for them 10 years ago, is more than capable of avoiding controversy. A spokesman said: "Steve is a senior FIFA official and we will not be giving him any special advice before the game."