John Terry has insisted that Chelsea's players' thoughts are with Jose Mourinho after their 3-1 victory over Sunderland.
The Portuguese tactician was sacked earlier in the week after overseeing a disastrous start to the season and the west London club returned to winning ways in the first game since his departure this afternoon.
Branislav Ivanovic headed the hosts into the lead before Pedro rifled home a second to put the reigning champions in charge as their new interim coach Guus Hiddink watched on from the stands.
Oscar's second-half penalty appeared to put the game to bed before Fabio Borini bundled in what proved to be a consolation for Sam Allardyce's lacklustre side.
Chelsea pulled four points clear of their relegation zone after claiming their first Premier League win in almost a month and Terry is adamant that the squad's thoughts remain with their former boss.
Somewhat ironically, the 35-year-old suffered a slip of the tongue and referred to Mourinho as 'the manager' in his post-match comments.
"Our thoughts are with the manager [Mourinho], because we are disappointed, it falls on his head unfortunately," Terry told the BBC.
"We needed to win and we've done that. Second half was not as good but we are delighted with the three points."
Mourinho's name could often be heard echoing around Stamford Bridge throughout the game while both Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa's substitutions drew a mixed reception from the home crowd.
Terry believes the players are at fault for the added pressure that is now on their shoulders and added that Blues supporters are within their rights to air their grievances at the current situation.
Chelsea vs Sunderland - player ratings
"There was a lot of pressure before the game but we brought it on ourselves. Absolutely and rightly so as well. Chelsea is such a big club.
"We are not used to being here, we've had a lot of good times in the last 10 years.
"Rightly so the fans are disappointed and so are we, we don't want to be where we are."
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Chelsea currently occupy 14th place in the table ahead of next weekend's clash with newly-promoted Watford, who are seven points ahead of the reigning champions.
