Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has all but conceded that the Premier League title is beyond reach following Monday's 1-1 draw against Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
After initially gaining ground on leaders Manchester City with a series of good results, Villas-Boas's team have now drawn their last three games and find themselves 11 points off top spot.
"I think it's pretty difficult," said Villas-Boas when asked about his team's chances of closing the gap to the leaders. "If we had had a good December, which would have been good with six points from these two home games, we would have had a chance.
"You assess things as they are. There's no big drama in terms of how we look at things. But you have to be sufficiently realistic. It's not impossible. You cannot say that. But we have to focus on our position at the moment and make a real assessment.
"Maybe the Premier League is over for us at the moment."
Chelsea simply cannot afford to keep throwing away points because they are suddenly back in a real battle to finish in the top four, with Arsenal knowing a win against Wolves on Tuesday would lift them above their London rivals, who would drop to fifth.
Billionaire Blues owner Roman Abramovich may yet forgive Villas-Boas not winning the title this season but he is unlikely to tolerate failure to qualify for the Champions League.
Chelsea's next games are at home Aston Villa and away at Wolves.
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