Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has suggested that the environment in the Blues' dressing room has improved significantly since Guus Hiddink's arrival.

The 28-year-old claims that the Blues are moving in the right direction under Hiddink, following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

"We've moved on and the atmosphere has improved since the change of manager," he said.

"It's fine now, we've just not been getting results.

"Jose is a fantastic manager and will always be a fantastic guy. But sometimes football is a cruel game and you have to move on. He came back to the club a second time and won two trophies, but now he's gone and we have to move on. Is it the right decision? Who knows? We'll only see in the future.

"We're down there in the table for a reason so he [Hiddink] can't come in and perform miracles, but we want to get out of there and climb the table. We've had three games now without losing so are making the right steps.

"He hasn't changed much yet, but he was here before and he knows the place and all the staff. The players are different - only me and John Terry were here before - but he knows what to do.

"I don't think reaching the top four has gone yet. We've got a lot of games left to play and points to catch up. If we keep going in this direction and keep keeping clean sheets then we'll definitely score goals."