Mata: Squad are behind Villas-Boas

Juan Mata insists Andre Villas-Boas has the total backing of the Chelsea squad. Villas-Boas, installed as manager during the off-season following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, was forced to deny reports last week that some members of the Chelsea squad had become unhappy with his tactics. Recent defeats to QPR, Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen had left the 34-year-old Blues boss under pressure, but he responded well yesterday by guiding his team to a comfortable 3-0 win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge. Mata was the architect of the midlanders' downfall, setting up John Terry and Daniel Sturridge for the first two goals before adding his own on the stroke of half-time to seal the win. The Spain international was happy see his team return to winning ways after a difficult run and rubbished talk of a rift between Villas-Boas and the Chelsea squad. "It's never easy to have such negative results, but we all have a lot of faith in ourselves as a team. We have a lot of faith in our coach and in the quality of the squad," Mata said. "We had a team meeting last week simply to reiterate that we are all together and that we are heading in the same direction and we showed that against Wolves. "The group has always been very united, and we have always been sure that the secret in enjoying more success as we go forward, in getting out of this moment, has been to stay strong and stay together." Villas-Boas was a surprise choice to replace the experienced Ancelotti given that this is only his second full season in management, but Mata claims the Portuguese's age will help the team's success, rather than hinder it. "He is very warm with us, very close to us. He is roughly the same age as most of the squad, and that is a really good thing," the former Valencia man added. "He won a lot with Porto and that is what matters. He won every tournament he could win and having that experience at his age shows how good he is." Chelsea stuttered in a cagey opening five minutes before bursting into life moments later when Terry lost his marker to head home Mata's cross. Slack marking then allowed Sturridge and Mata to put the game to bed and Wolves' first-half defending was awful at times. Chelsea will come up against Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester City and Valencia in their upcoming fixtures, and Villas-Boas knows he still has a lot of work to do to drag his team back into the title race. The Portuguese was happy to get back to winning ways, however, and reaffirmed his belief that his squad is capable of challenging in all competitions this season. "It was important for us to win, but it's not about me, it's about this club, and at the moment this club is fifth in the table," Villas-Boas said. "Hopefully we can get the results to get into a decent position. We just have to continue our work. We trust these players to take us to four trophies and I believe in them." Fernando Torres was left on the bench for yesterday's win, with Villas-Boas preferring to use Didier Drogba as the head of a three-pronged attack with Sturridge and Mata. Torres, a British record £50 million purchase, may return to the starting XI for Tuesday's League Cup quarter-final against former club Liverpool, and Villas-Boas has urged the Spaniard to be patient. "I'm sure Fernando and the others will get a chance in the future," he said. "Fernando had a good run when he performed for the team, but we decided in this run to go with Didier for consistency and to give the team a reference point." Torres has not scored a Premier League goal for two months, but Mata has backed the striker to add more goals to his tally when called upon. "He is very strong mentally," Mata said of his Chelsea and Spain team-mate. "He is ready for the moment when the manager calls him and counts on him and I am sure he will score a lot of goals for us this season."