Jose Mourinho: Chelsea boss thinks he could survive mid-table

Jose Mourinho's Chelsea have already lost on four occasions in the league this season

Jose Mourinho expects to still be Chelsea manager even if the Premier League champions finish in mid-table.

The Blues are 16th after eight league games, having made the worst start to a top-flight season since 1978-79.

Portuguese Mourinho - two years into his second spell as Blues boss - signed a new four-year deal in the summer.

Asked if he would still be in charge if the Blues finish mid-table, he said: "Yes. I was not told that because we don't expect to finish mid-table."

Following the home defeat by Southampton earlier this month, he said he would not quit and that the club would have to sack him. He suggested the Blues would be losing the best manager they ever had if he was fired.

A club statement backing the Portuguese was released two days later. He said it was issued to "close your [the media's] mouth".

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

"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, obviously I was not happy, far from it. But I never thought about being sacked."