Chelsea wing-back Victor Moses has insisted that the mood in the camp is still good despite the team coming in for criticism at times this season.
Chelsea stormed to the Premier League title in record-breaking fashion with 30 wins last season, but their defence has got off to a shaky start and the champions already find themselves nine points adrift of leaders Manchester City after 11 games.
The Blues' form has been such that even manager Antonio Conte's future has come under scrutiny, but Moses is confident that they can recover to push City all the way in the title race.
"I think we have done well. We as a team, whatever happens, we stick together and do the best we can. I think people have been a bit too harsh but we don't need to think about that or concentrate on what people have been saying. These criticisms are the kinds of things that makes a player stronger," he told Goal.
"We know we just need to believe in ourselves and prove them wrong then win as many games as we can. We are 100% together. We are like brothers here. Even after losing to Roma, we believe in ourselves collectively and individually. We just take each game as it comes. We beat Manchester United in our last match and now everyone is saying we're the best. Football is like this.
"Why can't we compete with City, United or any other club? Our players are good enough to compete with anyone. We have a lot of games to go so you can't tell who's going to win the league. We are nine points from Man City but we believe in ourselves and we believe that something can happen further down the line and that we will find ourselves back at the top. We still believe in ourselves and in the manager we have got so we will keep working hard and see where it takes us."
Chelsea are back in action against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, when they will look to make it four Premier League wins in a row.
Barney Corkhill
