Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has received the backing of billionaire club owner Roman Abramovich, despite speculation surrounding the 34-year-old's position at Stamford Bridge.

The ex-Porto manager has come under criticism for the Blues' recent poor results in the Premier League and Champions League.

Recent history has shown that the Russian tycoon has been ruthless in sacking managers that don't meet expectations within a short period of time.

When asked if he has the full support of Abramovich, Villas-Boas responded: "Yes. The spotlight is something that doesn't disturb me. It is something that doesn't disturb me whatsoever.

"It has an obvious knock-on effect but that's the manager's job, to motivate and inspire players. There's been a lot of meetings [with the players]. The decisive key is to transfer what we do in training to the pitch and hopefully that will bring us a good result.

"It's a situation of life and death in [the Champions League] group. We expect Leverkusen to do their job against Genk and qualify first, and it's either Chelsea or Valencia in the last 16."

The Blues turn their attentions back to the Premier League with a clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers tomorrow.