Chelsea legend Ray Wilkins says the home fans are unsettling Rafa Benitez's young team.

Wilkins is banking on the imminent return of captain John Terry to end Chelsea's recent slump and lift some of the mounting pressure on interim boss Benitez.

He told The Sun: "Rafa is a very experienced manager who is in the post at the moment and has the opportunity to carry that forward.

"But I would assume he has to win something this season to have a chance of staying in the job and it's a very difficult situation because of the opposition from the supporters.

"It all goes back to the great clashes with Liverpool in the Champions League and the things that were said at the time from both clubs.

"The Chelsea supporters are not very forgiving but they have to get behind the manager better than they are doing because it's their club and, like it or not, Rafa is the man in the job at the moment.

"I was at the 2-2 draw with Southampton on Wednesday and the strained atmosphere is clearly not helping the team.

"These young foreign players signed for the Champions League holders and expected the fans to be behind them right from the start.

"But they've been affected by the frosty atmosphere and now everyone is disappointed to be in the middle of January and the team is not even challenging to win the league or the Champions League.

"In the past Mr Abramovich hasn't really taken the opinion of the supporters into consideration.

"At the end of the day, he does whatever he wants.

"But Wednesday evening was the smallest crowd of the season at Stamford Bridge and maybe people are starting to vote with their feet."