MY TEAN MATES AND I ARE BEHIND MOURINHO - JOHN MIKEL OBI

The champions have made a horror start to the season, with Saturday's 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool leaving them 15th on the table with 11 points from as many games but Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel insists the team remains behind under-fire manager Jose Mourinho.

However, Mikel Obi, who started both the Capital One Cup loss to Stoke and the Reds reverse, is adamant Mourinho still has control of the Blues dressing room.

"We are right behind the manager," Mikel said in The Guardian. "There's no doubt about it. In training we work very hard. If anyone can turn this around, we definitely think he's the one.

"Last year we were champions. We won two trophies. Jose knows this club more than any other manager. He's the most successful manager in the club's history.

"I definitely think that, if anything is wrong, if anything can be fixed, he is the one. There's no one out there that is going to come in and fix what's going on.

"If you tell the team that we are not giving 100 percent then there is the doubt, but we are giving 100 percent, we are playing for the manager, we are right behind him.

"He has come out a few times and said the players are not giving 100 percent and then you look at the next few games, the players come out and play better. He is doing everything that needs to be done.

"It's just that right now things aren't going well, so everyone [outside] wants him to go. I don't think it's the right way to go. I think that inside that dressing room we definitely believe he is the man to change things. He knows this club in and out.

"He knows what's wrong and it's just a matter of time before results start coming. We are playing well, we are working very hard in training. It's just the results aren't coming."