Djordje Petrovic was the unlucky man chosen to step up and speak to the media after another disappointing result for Chelsea this week.
His summary of the game was pretty accurate:
“Of course, we are not happy with this result because our goal for every game is to take three points. We were in control in the first half but in the second half, we conceded two goals and then we had a fight on our hands. Credit to Brentford, they played a good game but we are not happy because our goal was to win this game.
“Now, we must focus on the next game and putting it right against Newcastle. With the game being on Monday night, we have a lot of time to recover and focus on what we need to do to get the three points there.”
That extra day of preparation he mentions never seems like it makes that much difference, but it should at least remove any tiredness or rotation excuses from manager Mauricio Pochettino’s catalogue of options if we drop points again. Newcastle will be a tough game, regardless of their form.
They gave us a hiding while in bad form earlier this season, and while this game will at least be at home, we don’t love our chances.
On a personal level, Petrovic is probably pretty happy – the game against Brentford saw him selected over a fit Robert Sanchez, giving the final and conclusive proof that he’s now our number one option.
He will have to maintain his good form to keep that spot – but that’s just the sort of motivation we want for our players.