The Blues were edged out 2-0 by Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with second-half goals from Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane ensuring Spurs claimed all three points in north London.

James, who captained the side following Thiago Silva’s withdrawal in the first half through injury, fronted up after the game and conceded that our position in the table isn’t good enough but also explained how the players are planning to work through this spell and improve.

‘We knew coming to Tottenham would be a tough game and our aim coming into the game was to win,’ Reece stated after the match.

‘Conceding so early into the second half didn’t help with our confidence but all we can do is work through this.

‘We’re sticking together, we’re working hard and hopefully with time we can get to where we need to be.’

The England international knows more than most at how high the standards are at Chelsea, having progressed through the Academy ranks and being used to winning trophies, and he says that the team must ignore any outside noise and just focus on getting back to winning ways quickly.

‘The media and everyone on the outside makes a lot of noise about the form that we’re in,’ the defender added. ‘We know where we are in the table and we know that the results haven’t been up to standard.

‘It’s something that we are working on as a team and as a group as I’ve said earlier, we are sticking together to put this right.

‘We’re not where we want to be and expectations at this club are very high. A lot has happened this season, we’ve had the change of ownership, new coaching staff come in and we’ve got a lot of new players and it’s not always easy to adapt straightway.

‘It’s tough but we are working and hopefully things can turn around soon. We have to buy into what we stand for, we’re all working hard and hopefully better times are around the corner.’