Frank Lampard has taken some of the pressure off Andre Villas-Boas after claiming the players are to blame for poor results.
The Chelsea boss has been heavily criticised after a poor run of results in the Premier League have left them way off the pace in the title race, but Lampard says it is not all his fault.
The midfielder has often been left out of the side this season and there have been rumours of unrest between him and Villas-Boas but he has now sprung to the defence of his under-fire boss.
Lampard says there is plenty of quality in the squad and it is down to the players to dig themselves out of their poor run of form and make sure they finish in the top four.
"We have been fighting to win leagues. Now, we are fighting for fourth and that hurts, so we have to react," Lampard revealed.
"We know we are in a bad way and we have to dig ourselves out of it. Different players do come in but whoever plays has to live up to the standards we have set.
"If we play like we did at Everton against Napoli, we will give ourselves a mountain to climb."