Just two days after drawing at Manchester United, the Premier League leaders were made to work hard for victory before prevailing 2-1 at Greenhous Meadow on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals.
Andy Mangan levelled for the brave League Two hosts after Didier Drogba had opened the scoring, but a Jermaine Grandison own goal eventually settled the fourth-round tie.
"The four players who played on Sunday gave an unbelievable example for the others - Didier Drogba, Filipe Luis, Gary Cahill and Oscar were brilliant," Mourinho told Sky Sports.
"You have people like them, plus Petr Cech and [John Obi] Mikel, who have not been playing regularly but gave a great example of professionalism.
"That gives the kids like Andreas Christensen and Nathan Ake a perfect example, so I'm really happy as I was expecting a difficult match."
The Ivory Coast forward commented: "It was a difficult pitch, difficult weather and fantastic opponents who gave everything - they created a difficult game for us.
"It was difficult for the players who have not played a lot this season and for those who were playing on Sunday, but with our experience we finally won the game."
