Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho confident over future despite League Cup exit

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is not seeking further clarification over his long-term future at Stamford Bridge, despite crashing out of the Capital One Cup to Stoke City. Following a 1-1 draw after extra-time, the Premier League champions and League Cup holders were defeated 5-4 on penalties at the Britannia Stadium after Jack Butland saved Eden Hazard's spot kick.

While Stoke await their fate in the quarter-finals, the Blues are left to contemplate a run of one win in their last seven games, which piles the pressure on Mourinho's position in west London, in his second spell in charge. The club have already publicly backed the Portuguese tactician and Mourinho is not demanding a second statement regarding his position.

"I don't need more," the Chelsea boss told a post-match press conference, according to Reuters. "My general situation is fantastic. I have a day off tomorrow [Wednesday 28 October], a fantastic family. I can sleep well every night. I'm going to enjoy my day and Thursday. It will be one more day like I have had in the last 15 years of my life: honest and dedicated."

Amid a start to the campaign that sees Chelsea down in 15<sup>th in the Premier League after losing five of their opening 10 games, the club are also facing early elimination from the Champions League, occupying third place in their group after winning one of their first three games. The Daily Mail has reported that the dressing room is slowly turning against Mourinho. But the manager has hit out at the criticism and believes they produced a performance that suggests they are still behind him.

Jonathan Walters' second-half goal had put Stoke on course to go through in normal time but Loic Remy struck in added-on time to force an extra 30 minutes, which Chelsea dominated in search of a winning goal prior to their penalty heartache. "What the players did tonight was face some people who have written and spoken [about them] and said: 'You are stupid,'" Mourinho said, according to the club's official website.

"Do you think the players are not with me, or didn't give everything to win the game? It's sad for the players. It's a lack of respect to the players, not to me. For me, it would be a fantastic situation if the players were against me, [because] I could say we didn't have the results because the players were against me.

"I think what some people write and say is really bad for the players, and because most that do that were players, maybe they think my players are like them when they were players. My players don't do that. They tried everything. If anyone saw the second half on Saturday, playing the way they did with 10 men, once more it's a lack of respect for the players to [doubt] their moral principles."