Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has revealed that the club’s hectic fixture list is becoming a problem.

The Blues are still involved in the Europa League and FA Cup as well as fully committed to their Premier League campaign, which has seen the games pile up in recent weeks.

Their weekend loss to Manchester United was the Londoners’ 46th tie of the season, a figure that surpasses all of their top four rivals.

A number of Chelsea’s senior internationals have not had a break since August of last year, and Cahill believes that the demands placed on the team are too great:

"Unfortunately, it does take its toll, I think sometimes a little bit of fatigue plays its part.” He is quoted by Sky Sports.

"We haven't had a clear week for about 29 weeks and you're expecting to go into games feeling 100 per cent fresh, trying to push on further in all competitions.

"They (Manchester City) had a clear week and we've had a ridiculous amount of games. I think it told, I thought they were a lot fresher and sharper."

The centre-back went on to claim that his own game is suffering as well:

"I had way too much (to do).

"Normally, at a big club, you probably get asked to do three or four important things in a game but we probably had 20 or 25.

He also said that Manchester City has a clear advantage in terms of fitness and that a lack of rest was ultimately costly for Chelsea:

"Unfortunately, if you keep getting asked the question, ultimately there's going to be a goal. I felt they were on top of us for most of the game. They just kept coming at us and coming at us.

"You defend one and defend two but, sooner or later, one is going to go in and that's what happened.”

Chelsea face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup this week ahead of hosting West Brom on Saturday.

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