Mauricio Pochettino admits his start as Chelsea manager has been tougher than expected.

The Blues sit in 14th place on the Premier League table and meet Brighton in the Carabao Cup tomorrow night.

Pochettino said: "I think we always knew new project, or to settle a different project at the club, is always difficult. This period in the last weeks is maybe a worse scenario than we can think to anticipate the situation.

"It looks like all is against us because when you seethe performance of the team, I think they deserve more points to reflect in the team. All teams go through different periods, maybe for us happens early, for sure we are so strong and I think we have the capacity to turn this in a positive way."

On the importance of the League Cup, he added: "I think it's all important because the Premier League is important for Chelsea, no? If you want to play in the European Cup next season. It's still so early, it's strange of course but that is football, it always happens. From my experience in Premier League, more than 10 years now always some club at the top maybe drops and some club, I remember Southampton or Leicester, that situation happens. We need to be consistent and to create a project where we can be consistent."