Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea may have their eyes on far greater prizes this season but they clinched their place in the last sixteen of the League Cup with a slender victory over Bolton Wanderers.

From the moment that Chelsea, four-time winners of the competition, took the lead against Bolton, their ticket to Shrewsbury for the next round should never have been in doubt. 

French defender Kurt Zouma opened the scoring halfway through the first half but Bolton captain Matt Mills equalised to make things difficult for the Premier League leaders. Brazilian playmaker Oscar scored the winning goal in the second half to see off the Championship club. 

“We were very happy with the performance from the team,” said Blues assistant manager Steve Holland, who took on the media duties. 

“It’s nice not to have extra-time. We don’t have any new injuries, and we’ve progressed to the next round of the competition.

He added: “Several of our players who probably needed a game now have 90 minutes under their belts heading into two or three important fixtures. It’s a good situation to be in.”

Dougie Freedman’s side, struggling near the bottom of the Championship having picked up five points from eight matches, responded well to going behind. 

The display was full of energy, and though they did not create a huge number of chances, the manager was pleased with the performance. 

Freedman said: "I felt when I saw the team-sheet that I knew their manager treated this competition with respect and the opposition with respect. They were taking it very seriously.

“We had a plan and the plan was to get into the second half still in the game.” 

Zouma’s goal came when he prodded the ball in from close range after Bolton had failed to clear a corner kick. 

They were back in the game on 31 minutes when Mills leapt above Jon Obi Mikel and met a free-kick with a firm header that bounced beyond goalkeeper Petr Cech and into the goal. 

Oscar, however, added a second on 55 minutes when his low shot from 25 yards skimmed off the turf and past the dive of goalkeeper Andrew Lonergan. 

Mourinho brought on Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard in a bid to extend the margin, but it was enough. 

Chelsea welcome Aston Villa this weekend looking to extend their lead at the top of the league.