Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech believes the battle for a place in next season's Champions League will not be resolved until the final day of the season.
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Cech and his Chelsea teammates face Swansea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday looking to bounce back after dropping two points following Luis Suarez's late equaliser at Liverpool last weekend.
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That left the Blues in fourth place going into the latest round of matches, a point ahead of Tottenham and two points behind third-placed Arsenal who have played a game more.
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The midweek victory in Basle in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals will have boosted confidence in Rafael Benitez's squad.
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But Cech believes the pressure will continue to mount until the very end of the campaign and Chelsea cannot afford any slip-ups against a Swansea side that beat them in the last four of the League cup earlier this season.
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"The top-four fight is undecided and won't be until the last game. For the neutral it will be exciting until the last day," Cech said.
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"We have a big game in every match we play. This is the way it goes and we can't forget about Swansea. We have to take things step by step."
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Looming is the home showdown with Tottenham on May 8 but David Luiz, the scorer of the last minute winning goal in Basle, warned it is too soon to target that clash as a potential decider in the race for the top four.
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"We need to take three points in all the games. Spurs is one key game for us, but we need to play well in the other games too," Luiz said.
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"We need to keep focused for the future, particularly on Sunday against Swansea, because they have a very good team.
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"You saw that in the semifinal of the League Cup. Of course we believe we will finish the season strongly.
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"We have an opportunity for that. I want that and my teammates want that as well."
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Benitez will again make changes in the wake of the trip to Switzerland, with John Terry expected to drop to the bench and Gary Cahill likely to start after recovering from a knee problem.
European battle is always a wonderful thing to see especially when it involves English teams. Kudos to whoever qualifies