16 January,2016 11:38 AM IST | | AFP
Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink has told everyone at the club to accept they are in a Premier League relegation battle
Guus Hiddink
Cobham (UK): Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink has told everyone at the club to accept they are in a Premier League relegation battle.
Guus Hiddink
The reigning champions are only six points above the bottom three having been held to a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday.
That result continued a season of struggle for the west London club and Hiddink fears that unless Chelsea can get positive results in the next two fixtures at home to Everton today and away at Arsenal a week on Sunday, they face a fight for top-flight survival.
"It's a very realistic view," he said when asked if his side were in a relegation battle at Chelsea's Cobham training ground yesterday.
"It is twelve points to fourth, that's Tottenham. "We all like to look up to the top of the table but don't be unrealistic when you're six points off the relegation line. That's also a fact," added the Dutchman, in his second stint as caretaker Chelsea boss after Jose Mourinho was sacked last month.
"We must work hard and be very concentrated and step up. That's why it was a pity about the 86th minute equaliser we conceded against West Brom. "When I arrived, we started one point off the relegation line and now we have more room to breathe."
