José Mourinho has thanked Roman Abramovich for his public show of support earlier this week and has vowed to “keep working” towards instigating a revival at Chelsea after the champions’ dismal start to their Premier League defence.

Defeat to Southampton last Saturday condemned the London club to a fourth defeat in eight league games this season, leaving them 16th in the table going into the international break and already 10 points off Manchester City at the top. Abramovich had been at Stamford Bridge to witness that 3-1 loss and, having held informal discussions with the board that night, duly issued a 57-word statement on Monday backing the management team.

The hierarchy, apparently alarmed by the nature of Mourinho’s post-match television interview in which he effectively challenged the board to sack him, pledged their “full support” to the 52-year-old, arguing they have the “right manager to turn this season around”.

“That makes me proud,” said Mourinho in an interview with the Italian newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport. “It shows the confidence of Abramovich in the manager who has won three Premier League titles with this club. I thank him and I keep working.

“What’s going on? I do not know. The results with Chelsea at the moment have been really bad. I cannot hide that reality, and I don’t want to. And I struggle to find an explanation. But I assure you: I’m working like never before and we will come out of this. And there is also the Champions League that we will not neglect, for certain.”

Mourinho, who claimed two Serie A titles and a European Cup with Internazionale between 2008 and 2010, was also asked to respond to Fabio Capello’s recent assertion that, after 18 months, the Portuguese’s players are often “burned out” and mentally spent under his stewardship.

“I read what Capello said,” responded Mourinho, who signed a new four-year contract at Chelsea in the summer. “I think a coach with his story in the game is better talking about football without commenting on the work of his colleagues.

“I could have commented on his job as coach of England, or of his work with Russia, but I never did. Because I prefer to respect the negative moments of my colleagues. I prefer to talk more of Fabio Capello in the many beautiful moments of his career, those that were full of extraordinary success.”