While there were several notable individual performances for West Ham United in the draw at Stamford Bridge, Scott Parker believes it was the team ethic that shone through.
The combative West Ham United midfielder, who picked up a post-match bottle of bubbly after being voted man of the match, believes the players' effort meant they thoroughly deserved to leave west London with a point on Sunday.
"The manager was really pleased, the whole squad out there was great. Everyone really put in a shift - we can all be proud to go home with a point, to play like we did was very pleasing," he said.
"I think it was clear that we have spirit. We have something there that you need and, with the league being so tight - that two good wins move you up or two bad results put you in trouble - the spirit and determination is something you need and we definitely have that."
As well as praising the mental strength of the squad, the 28-year-old Parker singled out a few players for particular praise. Chief among those was Craig Bellamy, whose tireless running was finally rewarded with the opening goal of the game.
"Craig has done ever so well. He's always a threat but has not got the goals to go with that of late, but his performances have showed what he is capable of. Carlton Cole had a late chance at the end and put in a good shift as well, so there's no reason why they can't go on again from this and push on."
Despite losing James Collins to a calf injury, The Hammers' defence - led by Calum Davenport and Matthew Upson - again demonstrated their new found resilience by throwing themselves at anything and everything the home side attempted. Parker said: "The central defenders were strong today, Ginge was out injured and Calum come in today and was brilliant. Matty has been solid all year and was again today, so a massive performance from everyone today and very pleasing.
"Chelsea like to play balls that can give you problems, but they changed the game after putting Drogba on and were a bit more direct in their play and mixed it up. They are a good side, but we dealt with it all well."
United can now look forward to the busy Christmas period with renewed optimism with home games against Aston Villa and Stoke City either side of a Boxing Day trip to Portsmouth. "We want to push on again, we have had two away games now against two teams from the top four and in those games we have shown we have matched and played better at times than them. Hopefully we can take that into the next few games."