Failure to sign a top striker in January has proved a big mistake as Blues struggle to hang on to top-four spot..

Lerma Alonso King

EDINSON CAVANI would have helped. Or Moussa Dembele. Or even Krzysztof Piatek.

But none of them arrived, and Chelsea’s failure to buy a striker in January is beginning to look like a costly gaffe. Nine points clear in fourth back in November, the gap has closed, and it took two goals from Marcos Alonso to rescue a point against

Bournemouth. With Tammy Abraham out with an ankle injury, and Olivier Giroud (top) going scoreless again, Chelsea looked toothless up front.

The Blues had 23 shots but had to rely on a 29-year-old wing-back for a point, and are now winless in four Premier League away games – their longest such run in five years.

Chelsea have also taken just 19 points from their last 16 games and are in danger of getting caught by the chasing pack. Frank Lampard wanted a striker, but didn’t get one, and his team could pay the price.

They were battered by Bayern

Munich in the Champions League, where they failed to score at all. And since the turn of the year, more than half their Premier League goals have been scored by defenders.

You might think it’s Chelsea’s shaky defence (Cesar Azpilicueta, left) that is their biggest problem, and they certainly creaked and wobbled.

The Cherries tore them apart with a two-goal burst in three crazy second-half minutes, when Jefferson Lerma and Josh King both hit the target.

It could have been worse, too, if not for some fine saves by Willy Caballero. At times, it was like Bayern all over again, with the hosts cutting through the Blues like the German giants did in their 3-0 win at the Bridge.

But for Lampard, it all stems from Chelsea’s inability to take their chances, and the pressure that puts on a back four he has constantly chopped and changed.

The Blues boss said: “I think if we are clinical with our chances, those moments aren’t there so much.

“I truly believe that when you look at our games, and analyse them properly – analyse the details of the game – leading 1-0 always gives the other teams a chance.” Time and again, Chelsea have had opponents on the ropes this season and failed to kill them off.

But no help is coming, and Lampard needs to find some answers in the dressing room because finishing in the top four tends to be a minimum requirement.

The Cherries currently have their lowest points tally at this stage of a Premier League season – seven lower than last term. But they carved out chances with ease, before running out of energy and dropping so deep they almost invited Alonso’s late equaliser.

Fikayo Tomori, in his first start since December, had a particularly torrid time before getting the hook on 64 minutes.

Lampard looks set to make changes again for tomorrow’s visit of Liverpool in the FA Cup – but it’s the mindset of his players he’d most like to alter.

He added: “Every game is different, but you have to have a mindset within the group on the pitch. We spoke at half time about what might happen, what they might do.

“Then you rely on the players on the pitch. They have to solve problems. As a group, we can’t be happy with it. You can’t be happy when you concede goals like that.”