The Blues' 4-0 FA Cup third-round humbling at Manchester City has increased the pressure on the former Brighton boss as his troubled first few months at Stamford Bridge show no sign of improving.

Sitting 10th in the Premier League after just one win from their last eight matches and now out of both domestic cup competitions, a section of Chelsea's travelling fans were heard singing the name of former boss Thomas Tuchel and ex-owner Roman Abramovich during their Etihad capitulation.

Former England striker Alan Shearer described the first-half display as "unacceptable", "embarrassing" and "pathetic", while Potter himself admitted Chelsea were "clearly suffering as a football club".

A double from Riyad Mahrez and strikes from Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden were deserved rewards for a dominant display from Manchester City and mean questions about Potter's future - just four months into his reign - grow louder.

Chelsea sacked Tuchel, who won three trophies in 20 months at Stamford Bridge, in September when the Blues were sixth in the top flight following a summer during which they spent £255m on transfers.

But new owner Todd Boehly's decision to bring in Potter from Brighton has yet to pay dividends, with the club now 10 points off the Champions League spots.

Chelsea did not manage a shot in a first half that Potter described as "painful", failing to even vaguely threaten Stefan Ortega's goal until a Mason Mount shot in the 54th minute that was deflected wide.

Potter, who can point to an injury crisis that kept nine players out of this fixture and led to teenager Bashir Humphreys making his senior debut in defence, said: "The results in a small space of time are not positive.

"You can make excuses and look for reasons or say it isn't good enough. Both of those answers are correct.

"We have to keep improving and stick together because clearly we are suffering as a football club and it's not nice at all. But that's where we are at the moment.

"We can't do anything apart from do our jobs better and work harder. You understand the supporters' frustration, we respect that. But our job is to keep working."

The Premier League champions raced into a 3-0 lead on Sunday, leading the travelling fans to greet the half-time whistle with a loud chorus of jeers.

And, while things marginally improved after the break, Chelsea's owners are likely to have been left in no doubt about the anger surrounding the club.

Shearer told BBC Sport: "From a Chelsea point of view that first half was not acceptable. I don't care how many injuries you have, you still have to put a shift in and it's embarrassing because they haven't.

"It was nowhere near good enough. Look at their body language, they looked like they don't want to be there - the energy and leadership has to come from the manager.

"Going forward they were so bad you wouldn't believe it. They have been nothing short of pathetic in forward positions.

"They have a big week coming up, they have to show more."