Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta says he hasn’t given up on the Blues finishing in the Champions League places this campaign.

Graham Potter’s side are currently ten points off the top four with 17 games remaining but Azpilicueta is hoping that his team can turn their fortunes around and finish the season strongly.

“In the Premier League, we have to have a very strong second half of the season to reach the top four, but it’s in our hands. I refuse to give up on that. Am I stressing this to my teammates? Yes, yes! I understand i’s difficult to be positive in moments like this, but I will never allow us to just give it away, like we don’t have a chance. We can do it.”

“We have players coming back from injury. We have new signings. The ambition from the new ownership is very clear. We are not where we want to be, but we will work to get it back. We have to make it a success.”

Despite the £600m investment in the squad since the summer, performances on the field have been pretty dire and, although they are still above Liverpool in the table, sitting in ninth place is not where Chelsea want to be.

With Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle currently in possession of the four Champions League spots, one of them will need to have a serious drop in form if Potter’s men are to come back into the reckoning.

The Blues have some important games coming up against West Ham, Southampton and Tottenham before the end of the month, and they need to start picking up points or any faint hopes of a top-four finish will be extinguished.

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