Mark Hughes has said that Jose Mourinho deserves breathing space in his position as pressure continues to grow on the Chelsea boss following his side's 1-0 defeat to Stoke City.
The 52-year-old was not present at the Britannia Stadium as he served his one-match stadium ban as part of his punishment for his rant at referee Jon Moss in the Blues' loss at West Ham United.
Chelsea's woes in the campaign worsened when Marko Arnautovic fired the Potters to a 1-0 win to condemn the Blues to their seventh defeat of the season.
Hughes told BBC Sport: "We are all been in that situation, you just have to keep winning so the focus goes elsewhere.
"I have had similar situations and sometimes you go under. Jose Mourinho has enormous credit at Chelsea, he has delivered trophies and surely people should cut him a little bit of slack.
"I see no reason why they should make a change but there is always focus in the Premier League."
Stoke moved up to 12th in the Premier League as a result of their win over the Blues.
Simon Sinclair
