Mourinho: I Won't Be Axed  (Sky Sports)

Jose Mourinho says he will still be Chelsea manager, even if the defending Premier League champions finish mid-table.

Chelsea enter Saturday's match at home to Aston Villa 16th after four defeats in their opening eight games.

It has been a miserable start to the campaign for Mourinho who called for the backing of the Chelsea board after the October 3 loss to Southampton and a first vote of confidence of Roman Abramovich's 12-year ownership was issued.

Chelsea have dispensed with numerous managers, often when Champions League qualification was in doubt.

But Mourinho is confident he is the right man to turn fortunes around at Stamford Bridge.

Asked if he would still be in charge if Chelsea finish in mid-table, Mourinho said "Yes", before he added: "No. I was not told that because we don't expect to finish mid-table."

Following the Saints defeat, Mourinho, who has won three Premier League titles over two spells, suggested the Blues would be sacking the best manager they ever had if he was fired.

Now Abramovich's approach to his managers is different, according to the Portuguese, who was reappointed in June 2013.

"It's different for many reasons, since the moment I came back in 2013, when I had my first conversation with the owner and the board in 2013," Mourinho added.

The competition in the Premier League means Chelsea could miss out on the top four this term, as Manchester United and Liverpool have done in recent seasons. The Blues are seven points adrift and 10 behind leaders Manchester City.

"Somebody will be out [of the top four]. Do I think it's Chelsea? No," Mourinho said.

Mourinho says he brought up the prospect of his sacking - he broached it in a seven-minute monologue in a live interview on Sky Sports - in anticipation of the question coming. The club's statement was issued two days later.

"For me the important thing is the owner and the board's message to myself," Mourinho said.

"Before the statement came out, I was having the feedback from the owner and the board. So the statement was not something new for me. I met the owner before dinner so, when I went to dinner, I knew.

"But even before that, I knew what brought me here. I know the conversation we had two years ago. I know what made me sign a new contract, and the reasons why the owner and the board decided to give me a new contract.

"They didn't have to. I had still two more years, so they didn't have to give me a new contract. After a bad result - which is not the first bad result of the season, it's one more bad result - obviously I was not happy, far from it. But I never thought about that (being sacked)."