Champions Chelsea are in danger of relegation from the Premier League if they continue to ignore the possibility, says former winger Pat Nevin.
A 2-1 defeat away to table-toppers Leicester last night means the Blues are in 16th place in the league, one point above the drop zone.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, ex-Scotland international Nevin gave a stark assessment of Jose Mourinho's side, who slipped to their ninth defeat in the league.
“Is relegation a possibility? Yes, it is, of course it is,” he said.
“They are a point off the relegation positions at the moment. Don’t be so arrogant to ignore that.
“So don’t ignore the fact that it’s relegation because if you stick your head in the sand for long enough, eventually, you’ll just look stupid so that’s a possibility.
“They are a good team, they’ve got a lot of good players. For half an hour at the end of the game last night they played exceptionally well.
“The probably, realistically, in chances, deserved to get a point out of the game but that’s a lot of games now where that sort of thing has happened.
“I suspect they’re still good enough to get out of it but it won’t be good enough unless your work rate is fantastic and your skill sets are showing at every opportunity.”
Asked about the Foxes' chances of mounting a genuine title challenge, Nevin said: “Yes, I think they can. You need to keep your best players fit. I love their attitude, they play 4-4-2 against everyone.
“It’s very open, it’s very attack-minded, it’s very devil-may-care. They are under no pressure. If they can continue playing with the joy that they are doing I’d say top four is most likely.”
