Chelsea captain John Terry today insisted every member of the squad is still united behind manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Despite the fact that a win at Everton tonight will take Chelsea back to the top of the Premier League, the Brazilian has found himself under increasing pressure in recent weeks.

A patchy record at Stamford Bridge has seen the Blues pick up just 13 points from a possible 27 this season, while there have also been reports of unrest in the dressing room over Scolari's tactics and training methods.

Terry, however, is adamant the players are all behind the former Portugal coach and said: “The manager has been a great signing for the club, he has been different class.

“He is a great man as well and gets on well with everyone away from the training pitch. He is like one of our friends but on the training pitch he has the complete respect of the whole squad.

“Scolari has encouraged us to play a lot more football and get the full backs to join in and have an effect going forward. He has in mind to keep clean sheets as well as score goals and we have been doing both.”

Unfortunately for Scolari, that has only really been the case away from home where they boast a 100 per cent league record and have conceded just one goal.

Their poor form at home has led to a drop in confidence in some members of the squad and Terry sees it as his role as a senior player to lift morale.

He added: “There are a lot of players with big jobs to do but it is up to me and Frank [Lampard] to keep them bouncing, especially after a defeat or a draw. We have to get them going again.

“Didier [Drogba] works well with the African boys and Michael [Ballack] does his bit. It's important that there are three or four big players who have a big effect on the side.”

The trouble for Scolari in last week's 1-1 home draw with West Ham, however, was that too many of these “big” players did not perform to their own high standards.

Ballack was substituted at half-time, Deco struggled to make an impact and Nicolas Anelka only looked threatening once Didier Drogba had been introduced as a strike partner from the bench. Tonight, the Blues boss must wrestle with similar selection dilemmas.

There has been much talk that Scolari is feeling unhappy at the prospect of not being able to strengthen in the transfer window next month.

He has been linked with Andrei Arshavin and Luis Fabiano recently but declared no players were joining or leaving the club when asked again at the weekend.

Terry is hopeful fresh impetus can come from the imminent return of Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien from injury.

He said: “What's happening in the world financially is affecting everybody. I think the manager and Peter Kenyon have spoken about there being no new signings but hopefully if we get two or three players back from injury they're going to be like new signings anyway. They could be key later on in the season.”

Foremost in Terry's mind is getting three points against Everton. Another victory at Goodison will see Chelsea go above Liverpool in the table but Manchester United are still regarded by most in west London as the main threat to their hopes this term.

The sight of United picking up the FIFA Club World Cup yesterday will have only increased the Blues' awareness of the threat posed by Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Terry added: “When I saw United lift the Premier League trophy last season it burned inside of me, it still hurts.

“I see the older and more experienced players at Manchester United like Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs have won 10 Premier League titles and seven FA Cups.

“It's amazing to see them do it and I want to be up there with them. I want to win as many trophies as possible and will give everything to try to do it.”