In a matter of days Chelsea find themselves out of the Champions League and with their Premier League title hopes dented.

A 1-1 draw at Blackburn saw the margin of title contenders climb to four points behind the league leaders albeit a game in hand.

The Blues manager Carlos Ancelotti admitted to The Sun that the advantage is now with Manchester United: "They are top of the league now, so yes. We know we have to do better than this.

"We now have less probability of winning the title. We have made it more difficult for ourselves now - although it is not impossible. I still think we can do it.

"We still have the ability to win this title but we have to be at our best. What we have to do now is stay as close to Manchester United as possible so that's why our game at Portsmouth on Wednesday is so important."

Despite the blues that his players are feeling at the moment, the Italian is adamant that Chelsea must pull themselves out of the mire and gather as many points as possible.

"We have to win games now - that's the only solution to go forward.

"We need to work together and stay compact. We need to prepare well for the next game.

"I don't know how many points we will need to win the title.

"All I know is that we have to win on Wednesday. We have to prepare well for every game and look forward."