Mauricio Pochettino has admitted his start as Chelsea manager is worse than he ever feared.
The Argentine has won just one of his first six Premier League matches this season - coming against whipping boys Luton Town - and hopes to lift the mood on Wednesday with a victory over high-flying Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
In a stark sign of the times, Chelsea could be regarded as underdogs at home having failed to score in their last three matches and with nine players either injured or suspended.
Pochettino admits Chelsea need to “win now” but does have little concerns over the performances his players are putting in.
He said: “We always knew that a new or different project is always difficult. This period in the last weeks is maybe a worse scenario than we anticipated.
“It looks like all is against us because when you see the performance of the team, I think they deserve more points to reflect in the team.
“All teams go through different periods, maybe for us happens early, for sure we are so strong and I think we have the capacity to turn this in a positive way.”
Malo Gusto is suspended after being shown a straight red card in Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa, while Reece James, Christopher Nkunku, Benoit Badiashile, Carney Chukwuemeka, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Marcus Bettinelli are all sidelined with injury. Armando Broja is only fit enough for “20 or 30 minutes.”
Despite the dire form book, Pochettino insists his team are only lacking the finishing touch, adding: “It is easy analysis.
“We are playing well, we have too many good things, very positive things, it’s only that we are not clinical in front of the goal. That is what we need to fix and try to give more confidence to our offensive players.
“That is the responsibility of everyone. I think in all of the data, we are positive, it is only this. The problem is the most important thing is to score goals.”
Co-owner Behdad Egbhali was spotted entering the dressing room again on Sunday after the 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, and Pochettino is happy for the owners to talk to the players.
“After my press conference, after all of the media, the game against Aston Villa, they came and shared with us,” he added. “They also did it with Liverpool and Luton and Nottingham Forest. They came with Paul [Winstanley] and Laurence [Stuart], Behdad and sometimes Todd also and we talked about the game.
“I don’t see it in a bad way. For me, it’s good always if they share with us and then can say hello to the players. If they came for a speech, that is different. In the way they came, they are very welcome. They own the club, I think they can do what they want. They are in a very good way we are glad they shared time with us.
“When we win and it’s good things, and to share when we are suffering like on Sunday.”
