Mauricio Pochettino was quick to admit that his side ‘can’t afford’ shock defeats like their loss to Middlesbrough in midweek, as he spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s west London derby.
The Blues were handed a chastening first leg defeat to Boro after a Hayden Hackney goal in the first half was enough to secure Michael Carrick’s side the advantage heading into the second meeting.
Chelsea have found consistency and form hard to come by throughout the season, and the midweek loss was just the latest result to spark criticism of Pochettino’s side.
Although his side face a crunch clash with Fulham on Saturday, the Argentinian manager unsurprisingly faced a number of questions on the surprise result at the Riverside Stadium.
‘Many Premier League teams when they play there, they lose,’ he claimed.
Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s clash with Fulham in the west London derby
The Blues were chastened by the Championship outfit and struggled to put away chances
However, he was quick to point out that the tie was still far from over, adding: ‘We are Chelsea and we can’t afford these type of losses.
‘It’s important to realise that we are still alive and we have the second leg at Stamford Bridge. For sure we are going to fight to be in the final.
‘When you lose against a Championship team, of course you get criticised. But tomorrow we need to get these feelings out and perform in the right way.
‘We must play every single game like a final.’
Former player Frank Leboeuf singled out Noni Madueke for an ‘appalling’ display, while Moises Caicedo left fans fuming on social media for his poor efforts to prevent Hackney’s opener.
The Blues have also been handed a further set back in recent weeks with summer arrival Christopher Nkunku again sidelined by injury.
Pochettino admitted that the fact that he is once again out of action after making a much-delayed start to his Chelsea career was worrying, adding that he wants his forward to be back as soon as possible.
‘I remember my first conference after he suffered a small issue,’ Pochettino said.
Christopher Nkunku is once again sidelined by injury after a long-delayed start to his Chelsea career
‘Now I think it’s nearly 10 days he has not trained – in between eight and 10. After six months, we were waiting for him.
‘He was so close to again feel comfortable. I am of course disappointed with that. We want him as soon as possible to be involved again.’
Though the start to his tenure in west London has been plagued by difficulties, especially after a mammoth outlay in the summer brought him an over-seized squad, Pochettino was optimistic for the future.
‘With time, we are going to be successful here,’ he added. ‘I have no doubt.’
