"The team which Jose put out against West Ham earlier in the competition was a pointer to how seriously he takes this and we want to keep the momentum going."
With striker Didier Drogba fit again and certain to be involved at some stage, the only player unavailable tonight is injured centre-half Robert Huth.
Eidur Gudjohnsen, who may be rested for Drogba, believes Chelsea will be deadly serious tonight, even treating the game like a Champions League tie.
He said: "The Carling Cup's hardly an annoyance and we showed that when we beat Newcastle in the last round - we really wanted to win that game.
"We're in the competition to win it. There's lots of different opinions on that cup but we take it very seriously. It's no different to the Champions League. The manager's made it clear to everyone in the dressing room that we must beat Fulham. We go into every game to win it and the manager's given that message very clearly.
"We're only two games away from a cup final and any final is always a great day. We've put the 4-1 win behind us and it'll be a different game. We'll be really up for it."
Gudjohnsen insists Chelsea's players are paying little attention to Arsenal's problems ahead of their Premiership clash at Highbury in a fortnight.
He added: "We're not looking at Arsenal too much and just concentrating on our own game. We're always thinking about the next game and won't even think about Arsenal until a few days before the game.
"We're one of the teams to beat because we're top of the league. The profile and stature of Chelsea has really risen in the last year and a half and we're a very big club.
"When clubs come up against us they have extra motivation and are desperate to beat us. We've got so many games this season and there's so much pressure on us to win every game."
Fulham v Chelsea, Craven Cottage, tonight, 7.45pm (live on Sky Sports 2)
