Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted his side are in a top four race rather than fighting for the Premier League title.
The Blues started the season fighting with Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the league but a series of dropped points in December and January has seen them fall 16 points behind City.
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They are six points ahead of West Ham in fifth but do have a game in hand on the Hammers as they look to secure Champions League football for next season.
The Blues are also fighting in all three cup competitions as well as the league but Tuchel has refused to prioritise any.
“We should not get confused in terms of winning the Premier League. We have to realise we are in the race for the top four right now, which is a huge thing in the Premier League in general.
“We will not start judging competitions. The most important thing is tomorrow against Crystal Palace. After that we switch because are in a lot of competitions.”
Tuchel was also asked if he was disappointed by the goal return of Romelu Lukaku who has scored just five premier League goals since his big money move in the summer.
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The German replied: “We need a bit of more patience than we perhaps all wanted to have. We demand a lot of our strikers in terms of intensity, so there are reasons why things are maybe like this. There are teams who rely on one goalscorer, that is no secret, but there are teams who rely on more shoulders.
“So both ways work and we want to bring Romelu to better situations. It’s an ongoing process. We still have trusted because he has proved at previous clubs he is the guy who gets the last touch on attacks.
“Disappointed is not the right word but, of course, we thought for him, and for him as well, he wanted to produce the numbers right from the start. But we are all humans and we keep on going.”
Tuchel also admitted he would like more from Kai Havertz, but is happy with his development so far.
“If we isolate the goalscoring, then yeah we expect more and he expects more, but the consistency in what he is given to the team, he has stepped up and pretty consistent.
“We can see a lot of intensity in his game and physicality. He has stepped that up this season, we have seen in training.
“I think he is in the process of being more reliable and being more consistent. Of course, he is an offensive player and has the ability to score.
“We want more goals and he wants more goals. In this part of the game he can improve, be more clinical and precise. Use his technique better in shooting. So there is room to develop.
“He has stepped up twice in big matches, in big moments, and this can only be good for his development.”
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