AVB - My job is safe

Andre Villas-Boas insists he does not face the sack from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich despite their latest slip-up in the Premier League.

Question marks have been raised over Villas-Boas' future at Stamford Bridge with Guus Hiddink being linked with a return to the club after leaving his role as Turkey coach.Chelsea face a huge task to get back into the title race after falling 12 points behind league leaders Manchester City following Sunday's home defeat to Liverpool.

However, Villas-Boas, who left Porto to takeover at Chelsea in the summer, remains confident he has Abramovich's backing.

"It's not a question of the owner having patience. We have set out to build something new at this club and the club is committed to taking what we're building to the future.

"The owner didn't pay 15 million euros to get me out of Porto to pay me another fortune to get out. Our commitment is towards the club and what we are doing in the future."

Not impossible

Villas-Boas admits Chelsea's title hopes are hanging by a thread after suffering a third Premier League defeat in four games.

"There were no positives when you get a result like this," added Villas-Boas. "The situation in the league is not good. It's not impossible to turn it around, but it's not the brightest of starts.

"There's no running away from responsibilities. There's no calling this a transitional period. We're not calling for time to work. Our responsibility is to win trophies."