Head coach Graham Potter has acknowledged that Chelsea's supporters will only be won over if his team begin to win football matches.
The Englishman has endured an indifferent start to life as the Blues boss, recording nine victories and nine defeats during his opening 25 games in charge.
However, many of those triumphs came during the early weeks of his reign, the West Londoners currently on a run of just three wins from 16 outings in all competitions.
On the back of an encouraging performance against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, much was expected from Chelsea when they played host to bottom-of-the-table side Southampton three days later.
Instead, Chelsea succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to the Saints, resulting in a chorus of boos from home fans at the full-time whistle.
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Despite allegedly retaining the backing of the club's hierarchy, it is a different story with the fanbase, particularly on the back of such a damaging setback against Southampton.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's London derby at Tottenham Hotspur, Potter admits that only results, rather than words and displays, are going to regain the support from the stands.
Potter told reporters, as quoted by football.london: "Supporters, rightly so, are upset because we lose at home to Southampton. Supporters care, when they are upset they make their frustrations known.
"There's nothing I can say that will make the supporters – if they are against us – with us. The solution is that we have to win football matches.
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"Some understand the position. If you lose 1-0 at home to Southampton, who are bottom of the league, you expect fans to voice their criticism. Then it's how you analyse the situation, how you analyse this season, the factors that bring us to this point, and you have to consider those as well.
"Results haven't been good enough, 1-0 defeat to Southampton isn't good enough, they are entitled to be angry."
Chelsea make the short trip across the capital sitting 11 points adrift of their fourth-placed opponents in the Premier League standings.
Nevertheless, Potter's side can reduce that deficit by three, as well as still possessing a game in hand, if they can prevail at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Darren Plant
