The Blues started the week last Sunday when they beat Southampton 3-1 at Stadium Bridge. With the Premier League scheduling fixtures in the subsequent midweek, 18 of the 20 clubs played on Wednesday night including Chelsea.

Mourinho and his team had to dig deep to secure another 3 points for the London club as an Eden Hazard-inspired Chelsea came from behind to beat Sunderland 4-3 at the Stadium of Light in a closely contested encounter.

With six points from six collected, Chelsea faced another away test at Stoke City yesterday, who are managed by former Manchester City manager and Chelsea player Mark Hughes. “Sparky” came back to haunt his former club as despite an Andre Schurrle double, Stoke beat the Blues 3-2 thanks to a late counter attack where Assaidi smashed in a 25 yard screamer to sink Chelsea.

According to ESPN, speaking ahead of the Stoke game, Mourinho hit out at Chelsea’s hectic fixture schedule and labelled his side’s three games in six days as a ‘big coincidence’. He said, “It’s like preparation for the Christmas period. OK, after that we have a week with the Capital One Cup [against Sunderland] where we can make decisions and change the team.”

“We of course make the Premier League a more important target than the Capital One Cup, and in that match, for sure, we are going to make many changes, but this week is a hard week. We start the week on a Sunday, not even a Saturday, playing with Southampton, and finish on a Saturday, so for clubs the season is Saturday-Sunday, for us it’s Sunday-Saturday. So once more, when it comes to fixtures, we are always in trouble.”

“Look at the ones that go from Saturday to Sunday and look at the ones that go from Sunday to Saturday… it’s a big coincidence. So in seven days we have three matches, two of them consecutively away, but we have to cope with it, and just make a big effort.”

Mourinho must have surely analysed Stoke City’s fixture list, and the Potters started the week on Saturday, then Wednesday and again Saturday when they met Chelsea at home. They were surely at an advantage as they had one extra day to rest whereas the Blues had to play three times in six days.

Because of this fixture schedule, Mourinho has said he will have to give a day’s rest prior to their Champions League encounter against Steaua Bucharest on Wednesday. He claims never to give an off to players before Champions League matches, but he will have to make an exception this time around.

He added, “I don’t like to give a day off before a Champions League game but I will have to give a day off on Sunday. I don’t think it’s good for their body, I don’t think it’s good for their heads. I like to do recovering by the physiological point of view but I think the mental point of view is more important, so tomorrow when we are back, they have a free Sunday to disconnect because I think it’s important for them.”

“Tomorrow we have to give everything to fight for the points. We have more points away from home in these two matches than we did in the first five so we are OK, but of course we have to try for three more points.”

This is not the first time this season that Mourinho has hit out at Chelsea’s absurd fixture list. He first made his feelings known when Chelsea had to play Arsenal in less than 48 hours in the Capital One Cup.

He then criticized last month’s match against West Brom at home, which ended in a 2-2 draw. The Blues were the only Premier League team involved in the Champions League to have their match scheduled on a Saturday, with others playing on Sunday. He had then said, ‘I think they laugh. They know what they can do and laugh because I can do nothing.’