Jose Mourinho Trained with just 10 men on the pitch (See photo)

LONDON -- Jose Mourinho says Chelsea have been working hard to solve their defensive problems this week, and even trained with just 10 men on the pitch.

In stark contrast to the resilience with which they closed out last season, the Premier League champions have conceded seven goals in their three games so far this term.

That figure represents 47 percent of the goals Chelsea conceded in the entirety of Mourinho's first season at Stamford Bridge in 2004-05.

The title holders have been reduced to 10 men in two of

those three games with Thibaut Courtois and John Terry

dismissed against Swansea and West Brom respectively,

and Mourinho says Chelsea must be more cohesive for

Saturday's clash with Crystal Palace.

"We did a few things," the Portuguese told his pregame

news conference in Friday.

 "We defended [with] nine men

[and a goalkeeper]. We did other tactical aspects to try and

improve the team, but I didn't just work the defenders."

"I worked the team. You have to defend as a team. You

cannot blame defenders for goals conceded. A team is a

team. A good team defends as a team."

The manager appeared to question some of the decisions

given against his team in recent games, saying: "I think the

most important thing of this start to the season is that it's

not normal that, in three matches, you have two penalties

against and play with 10 men twice.

"That's the thing that immediately comes to the mind of

someone analysing the situation. Apart from that, one

match at home, two away, four points... it's not what we

want, but four points is not a drama. We have to keep

going, improving.

 We know we can improve and will

improve.

"We'll try and get a good result. This is the Premier League

so, when you are five points behind the leader in another

league that can be complicated. In the Premier League, it's

not complicated."

Mourinho believes his side are improving after picking up

just four points from a possible nine following a stuttering

start to the campaign, and says they are not far off finding

their form after beating West Brom 3-2 last Sunday.

"I see my team coming. [We had] a good game, a good

result last week," he added. "A very good week we had last

week, working well and hard.

"The West Brom result had a bit of an influence in the

happiness of the group, but another good week, working

well and looking forward to the game. Hopefully we can get

three more points before the national teams are coming

and we have to stop."