Willian insists he will not be leaving Chelsea during the January transfer window, despite his lack of first-team action this season.

The 29-year-old midfielder has been linked with a move to Manchester United, Barcelona and Brazilian club Palmeiras in the last few months.

Willian made just his eighth League start of the campaign last night in Chelsea’s 3-1 victory at Huddersfield.

Coach Antonio Conte’s desire to play a 3-5-2 system has led to Willian, who scored one and helped set up the other two at John Smith’s Stadium, spending more time on the bench.

When asked if he is staying at Stamford Bridge, Willian said: “I am always happy at Chelsea. I really like this club a lot with my heart.

“The fans can be calm [about him leaving]. I am a Chelsea player and I am very pleased with the way I have been playing in recent weeks.

“When I play I always try to do my best. I try to help the team to play well, to score goals and make assists. Against Huddersfield I did that with my team-mates.”

Chelsea impressed on their return to winning ways, having lost at West Ham in dismal fashion three days earlier.

Their victory reduced the gap between themselves and leaders Manchester City to 11 points but Willian believes Chelsea should be just two behind at this stage.

He is rueing the defeats by West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace, which he claims were unforgivable, although — unlike Conte — he is refusing to concede the title just yet.

He said: “I feel sad because we lost these (three) games. The team that want to be champions can’t lose these kind of games.

“We know we didn’t play like we usually do. We didn’t play these matches very well because we made mistakes and the opposition scored goals.

“Am I frustrated because the gap should be closer? Yes. It is a big gap but we have to fight until the end.

“There are a lot of games to play and anything can happen. We will never give up. We have to always continue.”

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Huddersfield had gone into the match having won three of their previous four home fixtures, including against Manchester United. But Chelsea dominated from the outset, with Tiemoue Bakayoko putting them ahead in the 23rd minute before Willian and Pedro got on the scoresheet.

David Wagner’s side hit back through Laurent Depoitre deep in injury time but it was a mere consolation goal and the margin of victory should have been far greater for the visitors because they wasted a host of goal-scoring chances.

The manner of Chelsea’s performance was all the more noteworthy because their top-scorer Alvaro Morata missed the match with a back injury and the after-effects from a fever last week.

When asked if Chelsea have to maintain this standard of play from now on, Willian said: “Yes, it has to be there to stay at the top of the table. We have to always do our job, we have to keep playing the same way that we did at Huddersfield.

“We played very well, we had a lot of possession and created chances. The team was compact, very solid and we have to carry on.

“We just have to think about our performance and forget about the others. We are Chelsea, we are a big club and we always want to win every game.

“On Saturday we had a bad game and lost against West Ham. But against Huddersfield, we turned the situation around and played very well.

“We know the gap to Manchester City is 11 points, they play tonight, but we have to keep going until the end of the season.”