Jose Mourinho has said for the first time that he "cannot promise" Chelsea will qualify for the Champions League this season, but reiterated his belief that they will turn around their poor run.
The Portuguese coach had previously predicted that Chelsea would be back in the top four by December or January, but a run in which the Blues have lost half of their opening 10 league games -- their worst ever start to a Premier League season -- has changed his view.
When asked about whether Chelsea would qualify for the Champions League, Mourinho responded: "I cannot promise." The coach was then asked whether he had any doubts over whether Chelsea can recover their form, saying: "No."
Mourinho -- who is facing an FA misconduct charge while also battling a £50,000 fine and suspended one-game stadium ban -- implied he felt the reigning champions would not be overly affected missing out on Europe's elite competition.
"Chelsea is a big club -- it's the club I chose to come to," he said. "[It's] a club I live in a very specific way, with respect. Liverpool is a big club. Man United is a super big club. Last season Liverpool won nothing and didn't qualify for the Champions League, and they are still a big club.
"Two years ago United didn't qualify for the Champions League -- not even the Europa League -- won nothing, and they are still a monster club. That is football."
Mourinho meanwhile refused to criticise star player Eden Hazard, despite the Belgium international missing the penalty that saw Chelsea knocked out of the Capital One Cup after a shootout with Stoke City.
"I think it's not because he missed an important penalty that I'm going to be critical," he added. "He tried everything in the last game, had a positive game, played for two hours. I'm pleased with his performance.
"I'm happy with his performance against Stoke. I was happy with his performance against Dynamo Kiev. Before that, he was on the bench a couple of matches, obviously because I was not happy and I felt it was the best thing for him, but I'm happy with his positive reaction to that."
Asked whether he had been given assurances over his position by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Mourinho -- who in August signed a four-year contract extension until June 2019 -- said: "I don't have to tell you."
Regarding Jurgen Klopp's tactical approach since succeeding Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager earlier this month, Mourinho added: "I think everything is the same. [He has] hanged some details, obviously, in their tactical approach to matches.
"But this is the nature of the game, especially when you are thinking and speaking about two top managers. When you change a top manager for an ordinary one... when you change a top one to another top one, the level is high, they know what to do, it's just a little bit of difference to the way both think about football."
Information from Press Association Sport was used in this report.