ANDRE Villas-Boas has come close to admitting that defeat to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Monday night would effectively end his team's interest in the title race.

The Blues boss stopped short of saying he would write off any lingering hopes if his team were to lose, but did acknowledge that making up 13 points on Roberto Mancini's team would be a huge ask.

“We continue to challenge for the Premier League if we win or if we draw,” Villas-Boas said.

“But the Premiership becomes extremely difficult if we lose - because 13 points away would be something [worse] than what is already a big, big distance.

“There will be no quitting. It's not impossible to recover, but that's a reality. We all agree at the moment that Tottenham and Man United are the teams up there challenging.”

The Portuguese continued: “They [Man City] are going to put on a massive, massive challenge for us. When you see a leader of this dimension, there's not a good time to play them. They are outstanding, week in, week out.

“They understand the importance of this game as well, and if they get the result that they want, which is win – I'm sure they will play to gain the three points – they will come out almost with the assurance that their Premiership title is at least with one team less in the running.

“I think it's fair for us to see how it is after all the December fixtures, but the further they go on in the lead with the amount of wins they have been having, the further they believe that this can be their year.”

Villas-Boas added that he did not think the failure the Manchester clubs in the Champions League would help the Blues narrow the gap at the top in the months ahead.

“I really don't know if the Manchester clubs playing in the Europa League gives us an advantage,” he said. “I don't think it changes a lot. But a win would mean a return to consistency in terms of results. We could finally say that we got our run back.”

Chelsea will have Jose Bosingwa available again on Monday night, which will allow Branislav Ivanovic to partner John Terry in the middle. David Luiz is suspended for the game.

Villas-Boas also has Josh McEachran back in training following a foot injury.

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