The Blues were forced to play the game without captain John Terry, fellow centre-back Ricardo Carvalho and top scorer Didier Drogba, as well as goalkeepers Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini.

Mourinho’s words did nothing to quell recent speculation that he is likely to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer.

“This is our situation at the moment. I hear nobody is coming in and if nobody is coming in nobody can leave,” Mourinho said.

“I cannot let a player go, even if he is a player I think should go, because we are very short of options and numbers.

“It is not choice. It is not my club. I am just the manager.

“I am not as lucky as some other people because I do not have defenders in the reserve team who have the quality to play in the first team.”

Asked if he had identified players he would like to sign, but had been told they would not be arriving, Mourinho responded: “Yes. That is the situation. I do not have to tell you the reason.

“They are club reasons.”

He added on Sky Sports News: “My position is not important.

“What is important is Chelsea, not me, and Chelsea are in a good position, almost in the final of Carling Cup, the last 16 of the Champions League, the fourth round of the FA Cup and second in the league.

“That is the way I have worked all my career. I’m not important. It is the club.”

Mourinho also revealed that Terry has yet to rejoin the rest of the squad for training and is virtually certain to miss Saturday’s Barclays Premiership clash against Wigan.

Chelsea took the lead in the first half through Wayne Bridge and appeared to be cruising to victory, but they were punished for sitting back when Jermaine Easter, who has now scored in every round, equalised with his sixth goal of the competition 13 minutes from time.

Despite failing to beat a team 71 places below them in league football, Mourinho insisted he was happy with the outcome.

“I am happy with the result and the effort, but not the performance,” he continued.

“But I cannot criticise (makeshift centre-backs) Michael Essien and Paulo Ferreira for the goal. For people who never play in that position, I thought they did very well.

“Even if we had lost today, we would still have had the chance to play at Stamford Bridge, so I think we are in a good position to reach the final.

“We have a lot of problems, but we are surviving.”

Wycombe boss Paul Lambert hailed his players for keeping the tie alive, but was under no illusions about the size of the task awaiting his team at the Premiership champions.

Lambert, a Champions League winner with Borussia Dortmund in 1997, said: “The players were terrific.

“I thought our win at Charlton earlier in the competition was exceptional, but this exceeded it. I am as proud as anything of the players.

“This has kept the tie alive, but it will be a mammoth job for us at Stamford Bridge. It will probably be the toughest game the lads will play in their lives.”