Petr Cech has issued a warning to his Chelsea team-mates that they must not allow their mini-slump to turn into a full-blown crisis.
Chelsea No.1 confident the Blues can recover their form
Petr Cech has issued a warning to his Chelsea teammates that they must not allow their mini-slump in form to turn into a full-blown crisis.
The Blues' hoped the UEFA Champions League game at Genk would give them the chance to banish their week from hell after losing 1-0 at QPR before the 5-3 thrashing at home to Arsenal.
Chelsea threw away their half-time lead in the 1-1 draw with little-fancied Genk and have won just one in the last four in all competitions, falling nine points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
The Czech Republic international, however, insists it is too early to panic over his team's dramatic loss in form.
Form
"You can't give good teams too much of an advantage," Cech said.
"It's one thing we don't want to do. The sooner we start cutting down their [Manchester City's] advantage, the better it will be for us and we will put them under more pressure.
"So far, City have been doing very well and it's why they are where they are. But there is a long way to go - we still have to play them twice.
"We can't forget that, last year, we had a brilliant start, then a difficult period but had a brilliant finish and could have won the title."
"There is a long way to go anything can happen, especially in the Premier League," he added.
Pressure
Chelsea have the chance to apply some pressure on Saturday with an early Premier League kick-off against Blackburn.
"Blackburn could be a real turning point for us because it is a difficult place to go all the time," he said.
"We had two results we didn't wish for, which was the loss against Arsenal and the draw to Genk. But the best way to forget about this is to win games.
"We can't afford to drop many points in the Premier League because we are already behind."
Cech has kept just four clean sheets this season and is well aware that Chelsea must stop conceding the kind of goals which are beginning to cost them.
Mistakes
"We are making too many mistakes in terms of team defending and individually. There is a point where if you give good opportunities to your opponents, you can get them scoring goals," he said.
"I have to say we have been unlucky, too, on many occasions, but that's the way it is and we have to fight against it.
"We are going through a period where, even though we are playing well, have great possession and are creating chances, it's not happening for us and it is difficult to accept.
"Eight days ago, everything was fine. We had a really unlucky game against QPR - we could have won the game with nine men.
"We got a great result away at Everton and nobody would believe that, eight days later, we would say there is something wrong."
"I don't think there is. It is just a period of the year which can happen and as soon as we get over it, it will be better," he added.
