Chelsea host their second lower league team in a week as this time Nottingham Forest make the trip to Stamford Bridge. Click here for odds!

Didier Drogba has admitted that Chelsea’s dip in form is connected to the ongoing rift between Jose Mourinho and the club’s board.

The club’s chief executive, Peter Kenyon, claimed last weekend that there was a “healthy tension” at Stamford Bridge but Drogba has admitted that events behind the scenes are having an impact on the pitch.

“You have got to look at our current results – they speak for themselves,” the striker told L’Equipe.

“From the moment when the board and the manager weren’t pulling in the same direction, that carried repercussions on the performance of the players.”

Chelsea have won only one of their past five Premiership matches and trail Manchester United by six points in the Premiership standings.

“It’s not an easy situation to be living through,” he said, “but us players are welded together on this. That’s the most important thing. That there should be tensions, we can’t prevent that. A team is always in the image of what happens at board level.”

The Ivorian appears to blame the directors for the tensions. He backed Mourinho, whose future as manager has come under scrutiny in recent months.

“How can you not be completely behind someone who has always supported me, who’s helped me win a title, who’s put Chelsea’s name at the top of English football?” Drogba added.

“He has brought his winning culture. He has already captured four trophies in two years at Chelsea. What more could you ask of him?”

Despite the internal conflicts at the club, Drogba still believes this could be a successful season at Stamford Bridge.

“We are second, six points behind Manchester United, and still on course for the title,” he said. “We have qualified for the second round of the Champions League, for the League Cup final, and we are still in the running in the FA Cup.”

Chelsea host their second lower league team in a week as this time Nottingham Forest make the trip to Stamford Bridge. Click here for odds!