Jose Mourinho has thanks Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich for sticking with him despite the club's woeful start to the season.

Chelsea's Premier League title defence looks dead in the water after their opening eight games of 2015-16 returned as many points – leaving Mourinho's men 16th in the table.

Defeat to Porto in the Champions League has also done little to lift the mood at Stamford Bridge, where Mourinho has fallen out with his players and backroom staff already this term.

But a club statement earlier this week confirmed that Mourinho remained their first-choice to lead the team – and the Portuguese is determined to make the most of Abramovich's faith.

Mourinho told Gazzetta dello Sport: "This fills me with pride. It shows the faith [Roman] Abramovich has in a manager who has won three Premier League titles. I thank him and will continue to work hard.

"Chelsea's results are really poor at this time. 

"I can't, and have no desire of hiding the truth. I'm struggling to come up with an explanation. 

"However, I can assure you we are working harder than ever and we will improve. We also have the Champions League that we aren’t giving up on."

Mourinho also hit back at claims from Fabio Capello that his methods lead to burnout among players.

"I read what Capello said," Mourinho retorted.

"I think that a coach with his experience would have been better served to talk about football without mentioning the work of a colleague.

"Maybe I should have commented on his work with the English national team or Russia, but I’ve never done that. I prefer to show respect for my colleagues.

"I'd rather talk about Capello and his great career that has been full of success."