Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes that not having another international break until March will help his team recapture their best form after a woeful start to the season. Mourinho was relentlessly optimistic in his Friday news conference and said he would not be asking for any new signings in the January transfer window. The struggling Premier League champions go into Saturday's home game against Norwich City in 16th place, having won only three of their 12 games. The Portuguese, however, is backing his existing squad to come through the worst spell of his managerial career. "Lots of matches are coming now, four months without the national teams, and we really believe good things are waiting for us," he told reporters. "I think we are going to play very well (against Norwich) and will get a good result. "The owner deserves it, the board deserve it, the supporters and we deserve it." Mourinho will be back in the technical area after serving a stadium ban for the last game, when Chelsea were beaten 1-0 away to Stoke City. That was a third successive league defeat, but the Portuguese will not be seeking reinforcements to his squad. "I'm happy with my players, I trust my players," he added. "I don't need to ask the club to spend money in January. We were champions four months ago, not ten years ago." Chelsea have asked supporters to be in their seats at least five minutes before kickoff on Saturday for the singing of the French national anthem as an act of remembrance to those who died in the attacks in Paris last weekend. "We will feature the tricolore on the cover of our matchday programme, which also includes a tribute from France international Kurt Zouma," the club's website (www.chelseafc.com) said. "Players will wear black armbands incorporating the French flag and fans in the Matthew Harding Stand will display a new crowd-surfing flag as the teams emerge from the tunnel for the game." Earlier, Norwich manager Alex Neil told a news conference that he was just hoping Mourinho's team did not finally find their true form on Saturday. "Everybody's looking at Chelsea week after week expecting them to turn it round and get back to last year's form," he said. "Jose will know better than me why that's not the case but what we're hoping is that they don't turn it round this weekend." Chelsea play away to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League on Tuesday. They are second in Group G, three points behind Mourinho's old club Porto. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/170241.aspx
