Jose Mourinho last night made his most emphatic declaration yet that he intends to see out a turbulent period behind the scenes at Chelsea and remain their manager until his contract ends in 2010.

Mourinho insisted he was not perturbed by club owner Roman Abramovich's continued absence from Chelsea's matches and yesterday he came out with a statement that Brian Clough, a man who went by the moniker of Old Big 'Ead, would have been proud of himself. "I think it would be difficult for anyone to be manager of any club after me," said Mourinho. "I wouldn't recommend it."

Asked if he was confident of remaining manager, Mourinho replied: "I don't have to be confident - I'm staying. I have a contract. I am the manager today, I will be the manager until the end of the season and I believe I'll be the manager until 2010.

"If I believe what I read in the press there are already 11 candidates for my job. Maybe tomorrow there will be 12 but I don't get influenced by that. I just want to do my work the best I can. I know the list is quite big in the newspapers but I'm staying.

"I think I'm coping well with the situation that has occurred and I think the players will agree with that. I'm working well. Even if the lists in the media become even bigger it's still no problem for me. I'm very happy."

Abramovich was conspicuous by his absence from a one-sided FA Cup tie in which Nottingham Forest were obliging opponents for a club that have been ravaged by political in-fighting and continued rumours of divisions in the boardroom. However, Mourinho insisted that nothing much should be read into Abramovich's decision not to attend the last three matches having previously been a spectator at every game since taking over the club.

"Roman and I speak as always," said the Chelsea manager. "The difference is that Roman is not in London for quite a long time. I have no complaints about that because he's the owner of this club and he doesn't have to give an explanation about his professional and personal life. He pays me and the chief executive Peter Kenyon quite a lot to run the club, so he doesn't have to be around all the time.

"When he's back he will always be welcome in our dressingroom. But for now he is where he wants to be."

• Guardian Service