Chelsea shot stopper Thibaut Courtois believes
interim boss Guus Hiddink has brought confidence back to the team, but admits top four finish this season is not realistic.
"Now things are changing, we are playing well, and we want to end the season well," he said in an exclusive interview with Soccer Saturday."Realistically, we want to try and win the FA Cup, but the draw we got against City will be almost like a final.
"The Champions League is a hard one, but in the Premier League we have to climb the table, and sixth or seventh is quite close.
"Top four is very difficult, as it is already like 14 or 15 points.
"There are four teams competing for the title, so we know they won't drop a lot of points. We want to get as high as possible, but top four is not realistic anymore."
Chelsea have picked up 14 points since Mourinho's departure and Courtois, who returned to the side from injury at the start of December, praised Hiddink for making some minor tweaks.
And he says the players are training hard ahead of the final months of the campaign.
He added: "A lot of players have improved their game. Some of the team were struggling to find their form from last year, which has been the main problem all season.
"The Premier League is very difficult and if you are not at your top level then you won't win games. A few players have reached that level again, and we have started winning games.
"Hiddink has adjusted some small details, he has not changed a lot. On the training pitch he has restored a bit of confidence. He has had some talks with the players, and that has helped.
"That bit of confidence can change things. When Diego [Costa] scored that first goal, he went on to get a few more. Sometimes it is that one moment that can change everything.
"We train really hard, with a great intensity. If we can transform that onto the pitch we will do really well."
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