A defiant José Mourinho has insisted he expects to remain as Chelsea’s manager despite a sixth defeat of his team’s title defence, with the Portuguese suggesting the loss to Liverpool owed much to a refereeing oversight.

The champions’ early lead was overhauled by Jürgen Klopp’s side, with the visitors’ overall dominance reflected in the second-half goals that secured them a first Premier League victory under their new German manager.

Roman Abramovich was not at Stamford Bridge to witness his team’s third home defeat of the season and the club’s support of the manager, expressed in a recent vote of confidence, is understood to be retained for now.

José Mourinho’s post-match interview after Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool: full transcript Read more

Yet the pressure to instigate a recovery and start climbing the table back towards the Champions League places is mounting with every setback and there has been precious little evidence, to date, that Mourinho is capable of sparking that revival. Asked if he feared this would prove to have been his last match in charge of Chelsea, he said: “No, I don’t. I have no doubt [the players are still performing for him]. If some individual performances were below a normal level, there were not many. A maximum a couple. Even these ones, they suffered because they are not able to do more.

“The team is together. The fight goes on, but sometimes there are fights that are impossible to win. You go into a fight with different ammunition. And there are some fights you cannot win.

“My team can play against any team and win, lose or draw, but more than this is difficult. There are things that are out of our hands. The players, they tried. I think you could feel – not because we scored in the first couple of minutes – the attitude, you could feel the desire, that the game was maximum 50-50, in spite of us leading 1-0 early on. Two minutes extra-time [were shown on the board] and we concede the goal on 2 minutes 35 seconds. And then, what happened second half ... Everything is a consequence of some crucial moments, moments that the stadium saw. The players more than saw. They felt it. And, from now, what happens is just a consequence.

“I take comfort [from the vocal support of the fans], but what feeds me is not just the support of the fans. What feeds me is the recognition of our work. And the recognition of our work is just by getting results. I have some players who are really sad in the dressing room, and I’m full of respect for them. But we see it match after match, as professionals, that they’re not getting the respect they deserve.”

Mourinho’s complaints centred upon Lucas Leiva, already booked by Mark Clattenburg for a foul on Mikel John Obi, escaping a second yellow card 10 minutes later for pulling down Ramires. “I am punished by the FA if I tell you [what I think],” he said. “You have doubts? I cannot say because I’ll be punished. The fourth official told me to ‘shut up’ or I’ll be sent off. So I can’t express my feelings, in any way at all.”

Mourinho is currently appealing against a £50,000 fine and suspended one-match stadium ban, incurred for claiming referees are afraid to award decisions in his team’s favour, and a disciplinary commission is expected to sit next week to determine what punishment, if any, will be imposed after he and his assistant, Silvino Louro, were sent to the stands in the defeat at West Ham last Saturday.

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Mourinho convened his coaching staff in a huddle near the centre-circle post-match while his players conducted their warm-down session on the touchline, and will oversee training at Cobham on Sunday for the Champions League tie against Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday. There is an acknowledgement among the hierarchy at the club that mistakes may have been made over the summer in terms of recruitment that could have contributed to the team’s malaise – as well as, perhaps, the sale of Petr Cech to Arsenal – but an immediate upturn in results is now desperately needed. Patience will run thin if the side’s shoddy form persists for much longer.

Chelsea travel back to Stoke City, where their defence of the League Cup petered out in midweek, on Saturday before hosting Norwich after the international window.

“Of course I feel for him,” said Klopp of his opposite number. “But things like this are normal in football. He’s a great coach, one of the best managers in the world, but things like this happen. I had a similar situation in Dortmund last year. The good thing was no one in the club was in doubt about my position. Nobody. I never felt under pressure.

“So we could change the situation. And, with the quality of the players at Chelsea, of course they’ll change it. They have to change it, and they will change it.”