'I hope they are not on their holidays,' said the Chelsea striker. 'They have secured their place in the League, but they have enough time to celebrate before preparing for this game.'

The Premier League season ends on Sunday. Chelsea are level on 84 points with leaders Manchester United, who have a superior goal difference.

United travel to Wigan, a team they have never lost to since the Latics' promotion to the top flight, while Chelsea host Bolton.

But Ballack is hoping that Wigan can perform well enough to secure an improbable result against one of the League's giants, like how they held his team three weeks ago.

'When we played them, they put four strikers on in the last four minutes to try something. I hope they do the same against United,' he said.

While United needed their 4-1 win over West Ham on Saturday to arrest a dip in domestic form, Chelsea have been irresistible in the last month.

They scored a psychologically important win over their rivals and Champions League final opponents 12 days ago to ensure that the title race goes down to the wire.

Ballack scored both goals in the 2-1 win against United and made the breakthrough in Monday's win over a resurgent Newcastle.

For his outstanding contributions to their remarkable season, Ballack has been rewarded with a new three-year contract, reported The Times.

The Blues are set to offer him an extra two years on his present deal, which has him earning £121,000 (S$324,000) a week.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich has promised his players a huge cash bonus if they win both the Premier League and Champions League titles.

Reports say Chelsea's top players will be rewarded with £600,000 each in bonuses, with the Russian billionaire forking out nearly £14.5million in incentives.

The Daily Mail suggested that a payment schedule agreed at the start of the season authorises a £2.6million bonus to be shared among the squad.

In contrast, United's players can earn bonuses of up to £100,000 for retaining the Premier League, and £200,000 for winning in Europe.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS