By ROB HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 9:06 p.m. ET Feb. 24, 2012
LONDON (AP) -Five straight winless games have cranked up the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas, leaving the prospect of another setback against Bolton on Saturday unthinkable for the Chelsea manager.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich even forced the 34-year-old Portuguese coach to defend his decision to drop experienced players in the Champions League loss at Napoli on Wednesday.
"I have spoken to persons near to (Abramovich)," Villas-Boas said. "He is disappointed about the result and (was) asking questions about how we set up the team and they were duly explained.
"I spoke to the people close to the owner to transmit the message, people like (club director) Michael Emenalo. That is the normal way we communicate. He just wants to know the thought process. I don't have any regrets regarding the team selection."
Languishing in fifth place in the Premier League, Chelsea's mission is to move back into the fourth Champions League spot.
"There is one person who takes responsibility. That is myself," Villas-Boas said. "The players don't have to take it and they shouldn't."
Chelsea's misfortunes have taken some of the heat off Arsenal, which is above its west London rival on goal difference in fourth.
The Gunners host Tottenham on Sunday after a miserable run of results that has seen Arsene Wenger's side knocked out of the FA Cup and virtually eliminated from the Champions League with a 4-0 loss at AC Milan in the first leg of the last 16.
"No matter what we say at the moment it will be printed in a negative way. It is up to us to transform that into a positive way," Wenger said. "You can't complain. We are in a fantastic job and we have a big game in front of us - to feel sorry for ourselves would be criminal."
Arsenal finds itself in the unusual position of being below Tottenham for a north London derby - by 10 points - and its fierce rival has won three of their last four Premier League clashes, while drawing the other.
"We have an opportunity to come back closer to Spurs and strengthen our position for fourth place," Wenger said.
Tottenham is five points behind Manchester United and a further two adrift of leader Manchester City, which hosts Blackburn on Saturday.
"Blackburn won away against Manchester United and we know they are a good team, they are strong on the counterattack," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "They have been playing very well in the last two or three weeks. They are playing to get away from the bottom."
United should be back to full strength for Sunday's trip to Norwich after Alex Ferguson conceded he was wrong to select a youthful defense in the Europa League on Thursday. Although United lost 2-1 to Ajax, the Premier League champions still advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Norwich hosts United riding high in eighth in its first season back in the topflight after a six-year absence.
"It's not a game we're going to be frightened by," manager Paul Lambert said. "The players have done fantastically to get into this position and they're the ones that deserve the credit that is coming our way.
"It is fantastic for the football club that a team of their stature is coming here in the first place to play in a competitive game."
In the battle against the drop, the bottom three are all in action on Saturday.
While Bolton is at Chelsea, bottom-place Wigan hosts Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers heads to Newcastle with assistant manager Terry Connor promoted to run the team under the end of the season after Mick McCarthy was fired.
Also Saturday, Queens Park Rangers, which is only out of the relegation on goal difference, hosts Fulham, and West Bromwich Albion takes on Sunderland.
On Sunday, Liverpool, which is seventh in the league, will be trying to end a six-year trophy drought by overcoming second-tier side Cardiff in the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
"We have still got a huge opportunity in front of us to make the season relatively successful," Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said. "We've got the Carling Cup final, the sixth round of the FA Cup at home to Stoke and some really important league matches coming up. It could be a decent season for everybody."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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