![](\"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/photo_1324951358044-1-0_280x203.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Chelsea’s Juan Mata (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with teammate Raul Meireles<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nAndre Villas-Boas conceded Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes suffered a severe blow after his side dropped home points in the 1-1 draw with Fulham.<\/p>\n
Villas-Boas’s team have now drawn their last three games and while last week’s stalemate at Tottenham was regarded as a creditable result, failing to beat Wigan and Fulham must be regarded as major disappointments for a team with ambitions to top the table.<\/p>\n
And having seen his side reduce the gap on leaders Manchester City to seven points two weeks previously, Villas-Boas admitted the failure to build on that result meant his team?s challenge had once again ebbed away.<\/p>\n
City’s draw at West Bromwich Albion meant the manager?s worst fears of a 13-point deficit were not realised.<\/p>\n
But with both Roberto Mancini’s side and Manchester United lying 11 points clear of the Blues – who will drop to fifth if Arsenal beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on 27th December – Chelsea’s prospects of closing the gap look slim.<\/p>\n
Aston Villa will visit Stamford Bridge on December 31 but Villas-Boas admitted he was accounting for maximum points from two home games.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s pretty difficult,” said Villas-Boas when asked about his team’s chances of closing the gap. “If we had had a good December, which would have been good with six points from these two home games, we would have had a chance.<\/p>\n
“But bearing in mind this draw, if they (City and United) do their jobs, it’ll be very difficult for us to win it.<\/p>\n
“You assess things as they are. There’s no big drama in terms of how we look at things. But you have to be sufficiently realistic.<\/p>\n
“That is the perspective we have to make at the moment: it’s difficult. It’s not impossible. You cannot say that. But we have to focus on our position at the moment and make a real assessment.<\/p>\n
“Maybe the Premier League is over for us at the moment. We’d targeted the December fixtures as an ideal situation to find out what would happen in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
“We continue to do that. There is always tension for you to get results in a massive club like this one. You have to be real. You cannot live under false expectations when the gap is this big.”<\/p>\n
Villas-Boas plans to strengthen his squad in January by signing a centre back, with Bolton’s Gary Cahill his main target.<\/p>\n
“We are trying to close the deal on a central defender. I don’t think we’ll do much more than that. Maybe one player more,” Villas-Boas said.<\/p>\n
“A central defender will be our priority. We had initial talks with Bolton, but that doesn’t mean a deal will be concluded. We will see.”<\/p>\n
Juan Mata’s 47th minute goal was cancelled out by Clint Dempsey’s 56th minute equaliser, providing a timely lift for Martin Jol’s side after the 5-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United.<\/p>\n
Strikers Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson were both missing from the Fulham team and Jol admitted he was unsure when they would return.<\/p>\n
“Zamora had to pull out with an Achilles problem. Andy Johnson, in the same training session,” Jol said.<\/p>\n
“Andy’s had this groin injury, so maybe he’ll be back in the week. It was on Christmas Eve, the day before yesterday. Bobby, I don’t know. The Achilles is always a bit different. Johnson is a bit different.<\/p>\n
“And Damien Duff pulled out with a calf problem he’s been feeling for the last six weeks or so.”<\/p>\n
\u00a92011 AFP<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea’s Juan Mata (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with teammate Raul Meireles Andre Villas-Boas conceded Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes suffered a severe blow after his side dropped home points in the 1-1 draw with Fulham. Villas-Boas’s team have now drawn their last three games and while last week’s stalemate at Tottenham was regarded as a creditable result, failing to beat Wigan and Fulham must be regarded as major disappointments for a team with ambitions to top the table. And having seen his side reduce the gap on leaders Manchester City to seven points two weeks previously, Villas-Boas admitted the failure to build on that result meant his team?s challenge had once again ebbed away<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
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