(Reuters) – Chelsea manager Graham Potter called on his side to be positive when they take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday as the pressure mounts on him to halt a dismal run of form.
Chelsea have lost six of their last eight matches in all competitions.
A 2-1 defeat at Fulham on Thursday dealt another blow to their chances of qualifying for the Champions League, leaving them 10th in the Premier League standings and 10 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United, who have a game in hand.
“We have to recover from the disappointment of Thursday’s game and then we have to assess all the players in terms of recovery and injuries,” Potter told reporters ahead of Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge.
“Then we have to try to be positive and move forward and take a home game on. It’s another London derby against a team with dangerous players so we have to be good ourselves and prepare the team.”
Chelsea will be without new loan signing Joao Felix for three matches after he was sent off at Fulham.
The Portugal forward looked sharp, but his debut ended when he was shown a straight red card in the 58th minute for a reckless tackle on Fulham defender Kenny Tete.
“Of course, I’m disappointed because he came here to play. You saw his quality when he was on the pitch against Fulham and then to lose him for three games is a real blow for us,” Potter said.
“But there’s nothing we can do now, we just have to deal with it.”
Potter praised his Palace counterpart Patrick Vieira, saying the Frenchman had done a “fantastic job”.
“Young players so they’re not maybe as consistent as they would like,” Potter said.
“But the quality they have with (Eberechi) Eze, (Michael) Olise, (Wilfried) Zaha, there’s players there who can travel with the ball well, who can attack, who can eliminate you in one-on-one situations.
“Then I think they’ve improved their build-up phase of the game. The two centre backs are good with the ball and they’re a competitive team.”
Palace are 12th in the standings.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India, editing by Ed Osmond)
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