'They need to support the plan' - Mauricio Pochettino sends plea to Chelsea owners as pressure builds after 1-0 loss to Aston Villa

Pochettino's start as Chelsea coach is off to a rough start, as his side have won just one of their first six matches in the Premier League. Sunday's 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa was their third straight league game without a win or a Chelsea goal, and there are reports that Pochettino is under pressure already.

Chelsea, who finished 12th in the Premier League last season, are in 14th place after six matches and 13 points adrift of leaders Manchester City. Their struggles come despite another lavish spending spree in the summer transfer window that saw the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo, Axel Disasi, Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku come to Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino admits that the club's higher ups may be unhappy about what they are seeing on the field, but the coach feels they must be patient, telling reporters: "Of course they are disappointed but at the same time they need to support the plan."

Asked about the club's lack of goals, he added: "We have the squad we have, we need try to build the confidence and give them all of the support they need because they need to perform on the pitch. The performance is good, not excellent but we are missing goals. I start tomorrow again to prepare the game for Wednesday and hope we can score Wednesday."

Chelsea are in Carabao Cup action on Wednesday when they take on Brighton, who are third in the Premier League after beating Bournemouth 3-1 on Sunday.