Good afternoon! Yes, that's right, it's Steve Holland's press conference this week as Jose Mourinho has chosen not to speak to the media. His second-in-command will be addressing reporters shortly.

Chelsea haven't officially offered a reason for Mourinho's absence, but the manager was charged by the FA yesterday after suggesting that the referees had a "campaign against Chelsea", so it may be that he's trying to avoid getting himself into even hotter water.

Many managers have faced questions about the transfer window this week, and with Lionel Messi being linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, it will be interesting to see what Holland has to say about the Argentine star. He may be keen just to focus on this weekend's match instead.

Focusing on the match is something everyone at Chelsea will have been doing this week, as their last meeting with Newcastle cost them their unbeaten start to the season. Since then, Manchester City have closed the gap to the top of the table, leaving Chelsea only occupying top spot because of the alphabet!

Here are some of the players making their way out to training earlier today:

The players head out to training at Cobham... #CFC https://t.co/8d4GUAIwFG — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 9, 2015

Don't forget, we'll have live coverage of tomorrow's match from an hour before kickoff, as well as plenty of post-match reaction, player ratings and half-time and full-time reports.

While we wait for Holland, here's Diego Costa walking out to training earlier:

Here's Diego Costa walking out to training earlier... #CFC https://t.co/frLYZfk0ZE — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 9, 2015

Holland has just sat down, so let's see what he has to say...

Holland is asked about Mourinho's mood after being charged: "He's been fine today, very focused on the game tomorrow as we all are. We lost the away game only recently against Newcastle, so we're determined to put that right tomorrow. There's a frustration with all of us, not just Jose, with an acculumation of events that culminated at Southampton with the booking of Cesc. We're all together on this, but we have to move on."

On those Messi rumours, Holland says: "[Mourinho has] made it quite clear that in this window that his expectation is nobody comes nobody goes. A couple of things happened last year that we had to be reactive. Jose was more than happy to keep [Mata and de Bruyne] but sometimes you have to react in this window. The hope and expectation is that no-one leaves and nobody comes, we're happy with what we have."

He adds: "When you look at the numbers being mentioned in the Messi deal, I'd say it's almost impossible for any club to do that deal. Jose has made it clear that he doesn't want anyone to leave, presuming that's the case then no-one will come in."

Asked about the title challenge, he says: "It depends which way you look at it. When you have a lead like we had, people make a lot of it. When that lead goes, you can make a lot of it. This is the most competitive league in the world, you can't play against any of the 19 teams that you have to play and be certain of winning the game, at any point points can be dropped. I think the most important thing from our point of view at the moment is we've played 30 matches since our last pre-season game, we've lost two. That would compare very favourably in Spain, Bayern Munich would be similar, it would be one of the best records in Europe."

Still on the prospect of winning the title, Holland adds: "Yes we're disappointed that we don't have a bigger cushion, but the players have been incredible in the first half of the season. You are expected to compete for all the major competitions right to the very end. The margin between success and failure is very small, and the expectation is that come the end of April and May we're still involved in all the major competitions."

When asked about the squad's fitness, Holland says: "To have a week where we can have 20 players together for three or four days is a big advantage. You get to this period where you d get a chance to work with the players on the training pitch every day. Everybody trained today, everybody's in good shape physically. There's a determination to win at the weekend, we remember that we lost recently."

When asked about Papiss Cisse's absence, Holland says: "They have a good squad, I'm sure whoever plays in [Cisse's] position at the weekend will do a good job."

Asked if he is frustrated by Mourinho's comments, Holland says: "I spoke to another manager yesterday on another matter and he said he can't remember it being such an intense period of matches. It's been really relentless, the amount of time between the games. The matches were all live games on television in a short space of time. It's human nature that with the responsibility you have as a leader you have those moments."

Holland is asked about working with Mouinrho, and he praises the manager: "I've been fortunate to work with some really top class manager's in my time here at Chelsea. Nobody that I've ever worked with has ticked so many fundamentally important boxes, coaching, man managing, psychological, and the ability to change the direction of the game [as Mourinho]. For me, it's been a fantastic education to work with Jose for a year and a half."

Holland is asked whether it's a good time to play Newcastle, who lost manager Alan Pardew to Crystal Palace over the New Year. He replies: "I think Newcastle is always a hard game and it's always difficult to play them, but it's a game we're very much ready for. Our physical preparation if the best it's been for months. We're in good shape and ready to play the game."

Well that's it from a fairly chatty Steve Holland this afternoon. Just to confirm, a press officer for the club did confirm during the press conference that Mourinho's absence was because the club wanted to give the manager a break from media duties following his FA charge.

So that's all from us for now, but join us again tomorrow afternoon to see whether Chelsea can avenge their defeat at St James' Park earlier in the season. Until then, thanks for joining me this afternoon. Goodbye.