Amid crisis, Terry backs Mourinho as 'best man for Chelsea'

Chelsea captain John Terry has said the players remain behind manager Jose Mourinho and need to rediscover the hunger of old to improve on a dreadful start to their Premier League title defence.

Terry has suffered as much as anyone from Mourinho's changes to the team, having been left out of the biggest games recently until a recall for the 3-1 home defeat by Southampton on Saturday.

That loss left them 16th in the table, with only eight points from the same number of games.

"We are not in the familiar position we are normally in," Terry said on Chelsea's official website (www.chelseafc.com).

"We find ourselves in it and it is down to the group of players and the manager to get ourselves out of it and we must do that very soon. We need to be hungry like we were.

"We are suffering a bit of late but we have big characters in the dressing room and we will remain together along with the manager and get ourselves out of this," he added.

After Saturday's game Mourinho insisted he was the best manager for Chelsea and his captain backed him up.

"We have the best manager who we remain behind and we remain together," said Terry.

"That is what you do in tough circumstances. I have been here a long time and I have seen managers come and go and if anyone is going to get us out of this hole it is going to be Jose Mourinho."