Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino insists his side will eventually achieve their goal of winning the Premier League, arguing that they should be far closer this season than they actually are.

A tricky season has left Chelsea 11th in the Premier League table ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Burnley, with the big-spending Blues now battling to secure some form of European football next season.

That is a long way away from the ultimate goal of winning the league title, but despite the clear bumps in the road, Pochettino remains confident that this group will get their hands on the Premier League trophy one day – even if he is no longer in charge.

“When we came here we knew the challenge would be to help not just one or two [young players], but maybe ten,” the boss explained. “If we were not calm and didn’t analyse the project in the way we do, maybe today you would be talking to different coaches here.

“We understood very well what it means to change the direction of the club. Now it is completely different. We want the best for the club, for the owners, for the players and for our fans.

“Of course, we want to win the Premier League. Yes, one day we will. But if not, for sure another coaching staff will win it because this process needs to happen. And it needs to happen in the best way – in the way that it is happening. Because if not, it will be impossible for the young players to grow.”

Pochettino went on to argue that a deeper look at the team’s statistics shows Chelsea should actually be fourth in the Premier League table, rather than 11th.

“If you look at all the data, in the table we should be in fourth position,” he claimed. “But for different reasons, we are not there.

“What the data means is that we are in a good way. In which area do we need to improve? It’s things [that will come] with time. We need to compete better, small details. You can only get this with experience with time playing together.

“It’s easy to find the data when you want to kill someone. But when the data is good and reflects the team is doing well but for different reasons we’re not getting the results we deserve, [we should] trust in the process.”