Cech backing for Ancelotti

Published Dec. 19, 2010 12:11 p.m. ET

foxsports

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech insists Carlo Ancelotti has enough experience to cope with the increased pressure of the Blues' current bad patch.

The Blues have not won in five Premier League outings to slip from first to fourth in the table.

But Cech believes Ancelotti, a former manager of AC Milan and Juventus, can handle the situation.

He told isport.blesk.cz: "No-one is happy about the current situation, obviously. We had a good gap ahead of other teams but lost it.

"Carlo has plenty of experience as he has gone through Milan and Juventus. He knows how things work in big clubs. He is not panicking. In training we do as we have always done."

Cech does not believe the recent departure of assistant coach Ray Wilkins has contributed to the dropping of so many points.

"No, I don't think so," he insisted. "It's always a surprise when someone leaves at a time when no-one really expects it.

"But such things happen in football and our team is so experienced as to be able to cope with it.

"Ray was a very important person and everybody was used to his presence around the team. He used to be very popular among us players.

"But we cannot take that as the reason why we have been doing badly. Ray was not on the pitch, after all."

Cech added the players must respect the club's decision to part with Wilkins, admitting: "One day he was at training and the following day he was not. Nobody knew why.

"The club is managed by people who have a certain vision how everything should work and if they have decided this way, then they must have had a good reason.

"We must respect that. Us players don't have any privilege to affect their decision-making."