Defiant Scolari not giving up Chelsea's title hopes

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari refused to accept his side's Premier League title hopes were over after they were humbled 3-0 by Manchester United on Sunday.

Chelsea have won only one of their last five league games and were outclassed by United, who are just one point behind them in third place with two games in hand.

Scolari admitted his side must not repeat the kind of performance they gave in the second half at Old Trafford and called for his players to get their challenge back on course.

"Don't think if we lose one game we are finished. We have 17 games left and we will fight to the last," Scolari told reporters.

"You never know what will happen but if we play like we did against United for the next three or four games we will not win.

"But now is the time for me and the players to think about the future. We can lose everything or we can be men and improve."

Scolari said the defeat by United, watched by former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho in the Old Trafford crowd, had done 'very big damage' to his side's confidence after they went behind to a Nemanja Vidic header and then capitulated after the break when Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov added further goals.

He added: "The performance for the first 45 minutes was very good. It was the same as Manchester United but we conceded a goal in the last minute of the first half and that changed the game.

"After the goal they played with more freedom. We tried to put more players forward and that gave them the space they wanted to play. In the second 45 minutes they played very well. They were better than us."

United face Wigan tomorrow and then Bolton next Saturday and with maximum points would top the table before Liverpool play their next game against Everton on Monday.