Gary Neville says that Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca should not be under any pressure of being sacked "in any way, shape or form" despite the Blues' poor recent run of form - and that instead the blame lies above him.

Chelsea were abject in their defeat against Brighton on Friday night - their second loss at the Amex Stadium in a week - as the pressure on Maresca's position as manager increases.

While the Blues are still fourth in the Premier League after the loss, they could slip down to sixth by the end of the weekend with Manchester City and Newcastle two points behind but facing each other, while Bournemouth are a further point back and could leapfrog Maresca's team with a win against Southampton.

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The Blues have three wins in their last 11 games in all competitions, a bad run of form stretching back to mid-December with victories coming against West Ham and Wolves in the Premier League as well as pushing past Morecambe in the FA Cup.

However, with Maresca starting to come under pressure following a decent start to life as Chelsea boss, Neville instead says that Chelsea's failure to bring in a top quality goalkeeper and No.9 after their huge transfer spend over recent years means the manager must be afforded at least the summer transfer window to try and form his side into bona fide challengers for the Premier League.

"The pressure should be on the people who are recruiting the players," Neville said on Sky Sports. "[Jamie Carragher] said it in the second half: to leave out of a billion pounds, positions like centre-forward and goalkeeper so weak - is unforgiveable.

"The pressure shouldn't be on the coach - at all, in any way, shape or form. You cannot play football very well - it's very difficult to play football without centre-forwards and without a goalkeeper that can keep the ball out of the back of the net.

"That first goal tonight - for how brilliant it was from Mitoma - that was a simple save for any top goalkeeper and Chelsea would have still been 0-0. So for me, I think Maresca gets all this season; I think he's still got a great chance of finishing in the Champions League places. And then he gets armed with a centre-forward or two and a goalkeeper in the summer that can mean that he can guide this young-ish spine into a position whereby they can really start to challenge for the title.

"So for me the pressure should not be on him at all, it should be on the people who have recruited."