Under-fire Liam Rosenior admits Chelsea have ‘a mountain to climb’

Liam Rosenior admitted that Chelsea have a mountain to climb after a 1-0 defeat by Manchester United put another dent in their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Matheus Cunha scored the only goal as United tightened their grip on third place by overcoming their defensive problems at Stamford Bridge, heaping the pressure on Rosenior after a dismal run.

Chelsea are four points off fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a chance to pull clear when they face Everton on Sunday afternoon, and were toothless against a makeshift defence. They need a response when they visit Brighton on Tuesday but have lost four straight league games without scoring for the first time since 1998.

“It gives us a mountain to climb,” Rosenior said. “It’s not insurmountable but it gives us a mountain to climb and we have to go into Brighton with an idea that we have to win that game and kickstart the rest of our season.”

Rosenior, who was named Chelsea’s head coach after Enzo Maresca’s departure on New Year’s Day, said he does not know what the consequences for the club’s transfer plans will be if they miss out on the Champions League.

“The honest answer is we’re still fighting and we’ll address that situation at the end of the season, whatever the situation is,” he said. “In terms of the game tonight, it’s a really, really difficult one to take because people don’t want to hear me say how well we played and didn’t win the game. We’re here to win.

“There are many elements actually that the process of underlying things that we’re looking into suggest that if you stay in this process we will win games of football. It doesn’t look like it at the moment but the reality is Manchester United have come in, had one shot, won a goal against 10 men and won a game 1-0 which should be pretty much impossible.”

Estêvão reacts after suffering a hamstring injury during Chelsea’s defeat by Manchester United. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Rosenior said that a devastated Estêvão Willian was crying at half-time after suffering a hamstring injury. Enzo Fernández also limped off with a calf injury in the second half. Fernández was not given the captain’s armband after returning from a club imposed two-game ban, with Moisés Caicedo leading the side out instead.