Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to table toppers Manchester City ended Chelsea’s eight game unbeaten run and leaves the champions six points adrift of the summit in fourth place.
But Spain international Fabregas praised his opponents and believes the season is a marathon, not a sprint, blaming the defeat on a busy schedule.
“We knew it would be a difficult week, starting with the trip to Stoke last Saturday which as we know is always a complicated task,” he said.
“Then there was the trip to Atletico Madrid, arriving back early the next morning at 5am on Thursday, with practically only one day to prepare for the match.
“We faced a City team who came well prepared. They had home games and one extra day of rest.
“We are making no excuses but it was a difficult week and we have competed. We gave it everything and could not have done anything more.
“They are a great team. We know that. They had won their last two games, much in the same manner that we did, so congratulations to them.”
Former Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne scored the only goal of the game in west London to secure City’s eighth consecutive win in all competitions.
Fabregas is confident that Chelsea can bounce back from the defeat and return to form, despite star striker Alvaro Morata being ruled out for two months with a hamstring injury.
He added: “This was without a doubt the same Chelsea of last season, but what happened was that we came up against a City side who went into the game much better rest than we did. Nothing more.
“This time last year we were eight points behind, but it doesn’t mean anything. There is still a long way to go in all competitions.”
Antonio Conte’s side return to Premier League action after the international break with a trip to Crystal Palace (3pm).
