Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has jumped to the defence of Cesc Fabregas.

The assists have been much harder to come by since the turn of the year for the Spaniard.

Mourinho said: "When some people write that Fabregas has dropped his level because the number of assists are not the same, the number of assists are probably not the same because the player that he assists doesn't score.

"I think he's playing wonderfully well for us. I've never had doubts about his importance for us in the team."