‘The boys gave everything’ – Graham Potter assesses Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Graham Potter believes his side delivered a positive performance against Aston Villa despite ending the game on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline at Stamford Bridge.

Goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn on either side of half time delivered a perfect result that matched the work rate and desire of Unai Emery’s relentless Villans.

The Blues probed for a way back into the game, but as has been the case for most of Potter’s regime, they failed to create bountiful clear-cut chances despite monopolising possession.

However, Potter, whose side was greeted by boos from the frustrated Chelsea faithful, believes the Blues were unfortunate to come away from their own backyard with nothing.

“The first goal for them is disappointing, and we need to do better,” Potter told ChelseaTV.

“There were a lot of good things in the game, a lot of attacking play, entries, and a lot of shots. If you look at the stats, it was positive.

“The boys gave everything in the game. Their intentions were there – they showed personality and tried. Ultimately, you need to defend better than we did. I am responsible for that, and we will look at it and do better.

“We started well in the second half, but then one action sees the ball back up our end. Ultimately, the most important stat is the defeat. We have to accept it and work hard to put things right.”

On the crowd’s frustration at full-time, the Chelsea boss added: “I understand when you lose at home that people will be frustrated, disappointed and angry.

“No one is happy with where we are in the league table, and we have to work hard to improve that. It’s an emotional game, and I can certainly understand the frustrations after a home defeat.”

Whatever hopes Chelsea harboured of rallying to a last-gasp place in next season’s Champions League are down the drain following the abysmal result at the Bridge.

Potter, who had taken some pressure off his shoulders following a three-game winning run in early March, now finds himself back in troubled waters after dropping points in consecutive games.

The Blues will do well to make the Europa Conference League spot, but even that will be quite the miracle as they gaze upon the top six from the bottom half of the table.

Coming up against a wounded Liverpool side in midweek does not bode well for their chances of halting another potential deflating run of poor form.

But failing to beat the Reds at the Bridge could spell trouble for under-fire Potter, who is struggling to prove he’s not way out of his depth as Blues boss.