Mauricio Pochettino labels Chelsea ‘our own worst enemies’ as Blues boss admits his side ‘need to be realistic’ about Champions League football after damning Newcastle defeat

Chelsea's prolific early-November form was smoked into thin air as they were hammered 4-1 by Newcastle United at St. James' Park in the first match after the international break. The defensive frailties were laid bare once again and the Argentine manager was evidently still reeling under the emotional shock of that thrashing when he faced reporters on Friday afternoon almost a week later. Pochettino delved deep into the malaise of his squad and even labelled the defeat to the Magpies as his "worst of the season."

"It was a tough week for everyone," he admitted. "But I am very happy because I think they reacted very well. After you watch the game, it was worse than my feelings after the game. I was tough with them inside and outside [in the media]. But that was my feelings with them, because I think our approach was wrong so we take responsibility too.

"It was a good week to realise what we need to improve, to be more consistent and mature. We didn't do things we cannot afford not to do in this process. I am very, very happy so far, even if it was tough in training and our meetings. But sometimes these situations help you improve. It's not the opponent, we can see it against Tottenham, Manchester City and Newcastle.

"You could easily say the one we were most likely to take points against was Newcastle because they had to play Paris Saint-Germain three days later, which could have been a distraction. Okay, we beat Tottenham and we lost against Newcastle. We are our own worst enemies and need to focus on us. If we are in a good place, we will compete in a good way and Brighton will not be a problem."

Chelsea are currently 12 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa after 13 rounds in the Premier League. To seal a Champions League berth, the Blues need to pull up their socks and stitch together a formidable winning streak sooner rather than later to keep pace with the top sides in England. Pochettino understands that this is a tall order and admitted that it will be "tough" to go through.

"If it is mathematically [possible], we need to believe it is realistic," he said.

"It is another thing that will be tough to achieve, [qualifying] for European competition, but it is still there. Now, the most important thing is not to see the end of the season but to see the process and improve every day. That's the most difficult thing in this process; it is to be focused on today and not tomorrow. That's one aspect we were working on this week."

Chelsea have won just once in their last five Premier League games. However, they will be eager to turn around their fortunes when they host Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.