Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has admitted that they face a big fight to finish in the top four in the Premier League following yesterday's defeat to Southampton.
The Blues are just two points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal following a 2-1 defeat at St Mary's.
Cech believes that Chelsea lacked attacking impetus against Southampton but has backed his side to respond quickly.
He told The Mirror: "We had a spell where we played better away than at home and now it's been reversed. But we have to keep going. We put ourselves in a place where winning this game we would have had us in a good position.
"Although it was for 2-1, I still thought we had 50 minutes to come into the game. In the second half we looked more likely to score but we didn't. We created kind of half-chances where we missed the last pass or the last moment to finish the action.
"Now losing this game we brought everybody into the fight for the top four and we will have to do it the hard way."
Chelsea are back in action tomorrow in an FA Cup quarter-final replay at home to Manchester United.
Liam Power
