Andre Villas-Boas insists that Chelsea can still turn their season around, despite a slow start which places them 12 points behind league leaders Manchester City.

"The situation in the League is not good, it's not the brightest start for Chelsea but we believe we can still turn it around," Villas-Boas said.

"It doesn't look good being 12 points behind such a strong leader as Manchester City but the December fixtures give us hope."

The Blues boss also said that he has the backing of owner Roman Abramovich.

"The owner didn't pay 15 million Euros to get me out of Porto just to pay me another fortune to get me out," he added.

"It's not a question of the owner having patience. We are committed to what we are creating for the future. We have enough talent to compete in all competitions and that is our perspective at the moment."

Yesterday's 2-1 loss to Liverpool means that Chelsea remain in fourth place in the Premier League with 22 poins, on level pegging with Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal.