José Mourinho expressed frustration by the number of matches some clubs still have in hand this late in the season.

Chelsea defeated Stoke City by a 3-0 decision on Saturday to return to the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester City has two games in hand and will play Aston Villa in a rearranged fixture on the final Wednesday of the season.

“The situation is the same. The table is again fake," said Mourinho. "The table is again with lots of matches in hand. You look to the top part of the table and, some teams, they have more matches than others. You look to the relegation area and it's exactly the same.

“In the top of the league we cannot say we need X points to be champions. If you look at the relegation area, Fulham or Cardiff or Norwich, they cannot say, 'We need this number of points to survive', because they don't know, because Sunderland have matches in hand.

“This, in the best league in the world, I don't think is the best image we are giving and it's not the best situation. To play matches in hand in the last week of the season, I don't think is adapted to this top football country.”