Liam Rosenior has warned Chelsea their bid to qualify for the Champions League is hanging in the balance ahead of Saturday's crucial clash with Manchester United.
Rosenior's sixth-placed side are on a dismal run of one win from their last seven Premier League games, placing their hopes of reaching Europe's elite club competition in jeopardy.
Third-placed United will arrive at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea seven points behind them, while fifth-placed Liverpool are four points in front of the Blues.
It is more than six weeks since Chelsea last scored a goal in the league.
Rosenior's men have just six games left to climb into the top five and he knows there is no time to feel sorry for themselves after last weekend's 3-0 home defeat against Manchester City.
"As the season goes on, the less games you have left, the more important the games become," Rosenior told reporters on Thursday.
"We have to take advantage of this moment. We're running out of time.
"We need to show that initiative on Saturday and play on the front foot and make up those points, which is still definitely possible.
"If I look at each game, I think it's just come down to loss of concentration of focus in a moment that then has snowballed into the rest of the performances.
"What we have to do is manage the margins of the game a little bit better."
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A protest by Chelsea supporters is planned ahead of the United game, reflecting the growing discontent since owners BlueCo took over from Roman Abramovich almost four years ago.
Unless results improve drastically in the next few weeks, this season will be the first under the club's American owners that the team's league position has dropped.
Rosenior's position is also likely to come under scrutiny after a disappointing start to his reign, which started in January when he arrived from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca.
Maresca departed by mutual consent after hinting he did not receive sufficient support from the owners.
Strasbourg are owned by BlueCo, which led some fans to criticise Rosenior's appointment and claim he would be a puppet for the board, in contrast to the volatile Maresca.
"Every supporter has their viewpoint," Rosenior said. "Every supporter wants their club to do well and to win games. Our job, my job, is to produce those results in the long term."