Chelsea's inability to record their first win at Villa Park since 1999 left the champions for the past two seasons six points behind Premiership leaders United and in the unusual position of having to play catch-up with Alex Ferguson's men.

To make matters worse for Mourinho he looks likely to be without Khalid Boulahrouz for an extended period of time.

The Dutch defender lasted only 33 minutes of his return from suspension before he left the field with suspected knee ligament damage following a challenge with Northern Ireland midfielder Steven Davis.

Nevertheless, after venting his "anger and frustration" after Chelsea's 2-2 draw with London rivals Fulham last week, Mourinho was in more conciliatory mood in Birmingham.

"I'm happy with my team," Mourinho told Sky Sports afterwards. "The team played as a team.

"Six points at the end of the Christmas period is not bad. I have a lot of hopes for the second part of the season."

Villa manager Martin O'Neill might have equalled his worst ever run as a manager, by completing his 10th game without a victory, a sequence he endured when in charge of Leicester City, but he was pleased by his team's resilience.

"Our players worked tirelessly and they stuck at it until the end. We've played better and lost," said O'Neill.

Only Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba escaped Mourinho's outburst after the draw with Fulham.

The forward is one of few the Portuguese coach feels he can rely upon at the moment.

Mourinho's faith is hardly misplaced as Drogba sits at the top of the Golden Boot charts, but he could have increased his lead over Manchester United's Ronaldo in the eighth minute at Villa Park.

His movement to lose his marker, Gary Cahill, was exemplary, but his attempted volley after Shaun Wright-Phillips' cross was nowhere near as good, bouncing into the ground and over the crossbar from six yards.

Without suspended German international Michael Ballack, Mourinho put the onus firmly on Frank Lampard to inspire his faltering team, but the England international appeared jaded once again, apart from one long-range effort which flew fractionally wide of Gabor Kiraly's crossbar.

The Hungarian goalkeeper only had one save to make in the first half, when Ashley Cole headed Drogba's cross straight into his arms at the far post.

Lampard is a shadow of the player he was for Chelsea last season and was fortunate to escape a booking when he pushed Gavin McCann, after the Villa midfielder's over-zealous challenge on Ricardo Carvalho.

Drogba also summed up Chelsea's frustration when he was booked for dissent by referee Phil Dowd.

The only real consolation on another frustrating night for Mourinho will have been the sight of John Terry, the England captain, being put through his paces on the field two hours before kick-off just six days after key-hole surgery on his back injury.

Terry expects to be fit for Chelsea's next Premiership game against Wigan -- but will miss the League Cup semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers.

Villa created little in terms of genuine threat. They could easily have lost their share of the points in stoppage time but Drogba failed to direct Cole's cross on target with his head to leave Chelsea counting the cost of another sub-par performance.