Chelsea face the prospect of ending up as nearly men after dropping 10 league points since January

There were no angry inquests in the visitors’ dressing room post-match at Ewood Park. The mood among the Chelsea squad pegged back and held by Blackburn Rovers on Sunday was apparently more sombre and reflective than mutinous. One among them, Mikel John Obi, emerged to insist “the belief is there, the mentality is there, everything is still there”.

So, too, is the team’s ability to shape their destiny. Win their remaining 10 games in all competitions and the Londoners will have achieved their first League and Cup double.

All of which makes the creeping sense of panic which is steadily consuming the club all the more unnerving. After an exemplary January, Chelsea have dropped 10 league points and departed European competition with a whimper. The prospect of ending as nearly men has reared up yet again. This may be all be new to Carlo Ancelotti, hence his rather baffled expression as his team wilted on Sunday,, but those integral to this side have experienced such an unravelling before. All this is familiar and, if the slide is not checked soon, the repercussions could be just as recognisable.

There is no desire within the Chelsea hierarchy to dispose of Ancelotti, a manager Roman Abramovich had pursued in effect since José Mourinho’s departure in the autumn of 2007. He remains respected by the players, his training techniques not drawing criticism in the same way Luiz Felipe Scolari’s rather relaxed approach prompted dissent in the ranks. He is popular and needs time and money to make this side his own.

Yet if the immediate future is relatively assured for the manager, the same cannot be said for his squad. The next four games – Portsmouth, Aston Villa and Manchester United, and Villa again in an FA