Mourinho defiant despite defensive lapses

Chelsea football Club manager Jose Mourinho addresses a press conference at Stamford Bridge stadium in London on 4 December. Mourinho has insisted his side are still capable of winning the title, despite lambasting their defending over the last four games.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted his side are still capable of winning the title, despite lambasting their defending over the last four games.

Following a second successive 2-2 home draw - they were held by Fulham on Saturday just days after Reading also left Stamford Bridge with a point - Mourinho blasted his team's defending and singled out several players for under-performing.

That result saw Chelsea slip six points off the league summit.

But now the Portuguese boss claims his side are still capable of toppling Manchester United to claim a third straight Premiership crown in May.

Mourinho said: "Our task is to keep winning games. We have not a lot of fit players at the moment, but we have enough.

"We know we need to be two or three points behind Manchester United, at worst, when we play them at Stamford Bridge towards the end of the season.

"It would be lovely if we can be better than that but if you are not prepared to have to battle to the end, you might not be capable of battling at the end.

"They will go on winning. But they will also drop points. We must go on winning."

Mourinho pulled no punches after the Fulham draw, claiming defenders Paulo Ferreira and Geremi could not cope with the aerial threat posed by English teams while adding that Michael Ballack, Andrei Shevchenko, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Salomon Kalou are all performing below par.

But despite this brutal assessment, Mourinho still regards the situation as ideal for some of the fringe players to make a name for themselves.

"There are great opportunities now for the players who have not played a lot so far and they must take them," he added. "That is what happens when a squad suffers injuries. Players who are going to be great take their opportunities, I am confident in ours."

Chelsea's slump, in which they have leaked eight goals in their last four games, has triggered the rumour milll, suggesting Mourinho will move to bolster his squad in the January transfer window.

Portsmouth's former England defender Sol Campbell is the latest defender to be linked with a move to Stamford Bridge while Valencia's David Villa could be the one to add some beef to an attack that is too heavily reliant on the 20-goal Didier Drogba.

Reading's Stephen Hunt tries to get past Chelsea's Michael Ballack (L) during the Premiership match at Stamford Bridge in London on 26 December. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted his side are still capable of winning the title, despite lambasting their defending over the last four games.

With John Terry, Petr Cech and Joe Cole out injured and close season signing Khlaid Boulahrouz looking far from comfortable in the Premiership, Mourinho has been forced to defend the sales of defenders William Gallas to Arsenal and Robert Huth to Middlesbrough.

"Why I sold Huth and Gallas? It is a good question. There is no answer, there is no answer.

"They are not here any more and to be fair they are both injured at the moment, so if they are both here and injured, we have the same problem."

His biggest problem is an inability to hold onto a lead, something only the return of Terry will fix.

"In the last month, the matches Chelsea won are because we won in the last minute.

"The opponent had no time to react, it happened to Wigan and Everton. When there is 15 or 20 minutes left, we cannot hold a result at the moment.

"In this country you need to have very strong central defenders in the air. In this country everybody has tall and strong strikers and put the ball in the box.

"Against Fulham it was Brian McBride and Antoine Sibierski for Newcastle. We do not dominate the game in the air, that is obvious."

When the transfer window opens, it will be no surprise if Chelsea splash the cash on a central defender.