John Terry admits Chelsea's Premier League campaign has been a big disappointment and believes they have a lot of improving to do if they are to challenge for the title next season.

Chelsea are set to finish the campaign in third place, which will be their lowest position since owner Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.

They should be beaten to the runners-up spot by Liverpool, who are three points clear with one game to go and have a better goal difference.

Rafael Benitez's side will have to lose at home to Tottenham next week, with Chelsea winning big at Sunderland, for Guus Hiddink's side to finish second behind champions Manchester United.

Considering Spurs haven't won at Anfield in the League for 16 years, Chelsea can expect few favours from their north London rivals and Terry is resigned to finishing out of the top two.

He said: “Third place in the League isn't good enough. If that's where we eventually finish, it's the lowest we've come since Mr Abramovich bought the club.

“I'm sure that next season Man Utd will be as good again and that Liverpool will maintain their improvement. It's up to us to get back in among and ahead of them.”

Their biggest chance of bridging the gap to both clubs is to try and have a season without any turmoil off the pitch affecting their efforts.

Since they last won the title in 2006, Chelsea's challenge has been constantly undermined by problems surrounding the manager and Manchester United have taken advantage of the discord.

Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari have all been and gone in that time and the revolving door has cost them dearly.

Over the last three months they have finally looked united as a squad from top to bottom again — thanks to Hiddink's arrival as interim coach in place of Scolari in February — but his tenure now has only two weeks left to run. It is a pity for Chelsea that his commitment to the Russian national team and the politics surrounding it prevents him from continuing for there is no doubt, in the eyes of Chelsea fans, he is the best man for the job.

The Stamford Bridge faithful made their feelings clear on the matter to Abramovich and Hiddink during the 2-0 win over Blackburn yesterday.

They sang in unison We want you to stay', Roman, Roman, sign him up' and perhaps worryingly for AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is tipped to be confirmed as the new manager this week, a large number also voiced their unhappiness at the Italian's potential appointment at the Bridge.

For those teams that fail to achieve their goals in a season, the game tends to be reduced
to a case of ifs, buts and maybes.

With Chelsea having secured an impressive points haul of 31 from the 12 League games in which Hiddink was in charge, they may rue not having him at the helm earlier.

The warm reception clearly got to Hiddink and there is still a possibility that the Dutchman can return after his contract runs out with Russia after the World Cup next year.

The 62-year-old is certainly not ruling anything out and said: “One year ago, I wouldn't have thought that I'd have managed Chelsea so I can't predict what happens after the Russia adventure. But I'm not getting any younger.

“As long as I feel energetic that I can deliver without repeating myself — the players can get bored, after all — that's important. As long as I receive the energy from the group and the players, then I can continue.” Hiddink could have few complaints about the energy levels of his Chelsea players against Blackburn and they should have secured a more resounding victory.

The manager said before the game that Chelsea do need to sign some younger talent to catch Manchester United but the current side are still too strong for the majority of Premier League opposition.

Blackburn had their moments in a fairly open first half but goalkeeper Paul Robinson was still clearly their best player. He could do little to stop the home side from taking the lead in the fourth minute as Florent Malouda powered a fine header into the bottom corner from Nicolas Anelka's cross.

Frank Lampard struck the crossbar with another fierce effort while Robinson blocked shots from Anelka, Ashley Cole and Michael Essien.

Gael Givet cleared Malouda's chip off the line but Robinson was beaten again when Anelka fired smartly into the corner from the edge of the area.
It was his 18th League goal of the season and brought him level with Cristiano Ronaldo in the race to finish as top scorer. It has certainly provided him with motivation to impress against Sunderland next Sunday.

He said: “If I have a chance to score more goals and to finish on top, I will try like I do in every game. I should say thank you to my team-mates; they have given me the chances to score.”

Anelka could have gone ahead of Ronaldo if another shot hadn't narrowly gone past the post and he also tried to help Didier Drogba get on the scoresheet with some unselfish play, but the Ivory Coast international shot just over.

A lap of honour involving all the players and staff followed after the final whistle, although Chelsea preferred to call it a lap of appreciation — which possibly reflects the feeling of underachievement captain Terry was talking about.

Of course, Chelsea are still in with a chance of winning silverware as they have an FA Cup Final against Everton to look forward to at Wembley on 30 May.

But the next permanent manager will be under pressure to make sure they have more to celebrate in 12 months time.