Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas was shaken by his meeting with Roman Abramovich on Saturday, it has been revealed.

Villas-Boas has always maintained that he has the full support of Abramovich but he has been left in no doubt about the demands of being Chelsea manager.

Some players believe dressing-room morale has been fractured beyond repair under Villas-Boas. That is a theory Abramovich put to the test on Saturday and Villas-Boas is understood to have been left shaken by the visit, says the Daily Mail.

Carlo Ancelotti operated under similar circumstances when he was Chelsea manager and told friends life became "intolerable" because of the pressure on him from above.