Jose Mourinho has said that Chelsea need more confidence to help them overcome their slow start to the season.

The Blues suffered a third defeat in their opening five league matches of the Premier League campaign after losing 3-1 at Everton this afternoon.

However, Mourinho says that regaining confidence is the key to picking up positive results again.

"We need to win a couple of consecutive matches, we need the players to smile again, we need the strikers to score goals, we need the defenders to not make mistakes and be punished, we need confidence," Mourinho is quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

"Confidence is fundamental and at the moment everything is going against us.

"The players fight, play, try, like they did, but the reality is that at the moment it's difficult for them. It's not easy to play football with the confidence level low."

Chelsea begin their Champions League campaign on Wednesday against Maccabi Tel Aviv.