Roberto Di Matteo declared that Chelsea had moved a step closer to qualifying for next season’s Champions League after their victory against Stoke.
Didier Drogba’s second-half winner moved the Blues level on points with fourth-placed Arsenal, who play tomorrow.
“Today was a step back in the direction of the top four,” Di Matteo said. “It’s three points and a clean sheet and our second win in a row this week.
“Sometimes you have to win like this – scrappy. It’s not always going to be easy and pretty, but we must win as many games as we can before the end of the season.
“That’s what I’m looking forward to, I’m focused on that and taking the team in the right frame of mind to win the next game.”
Di Matteo added: “There are 10 games to go. It’s not just between us and Arsenal.
“Someone else may get dragged into the race for fourth but we just have to concentrate on us, win our games and see what happens.”
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This post was last modified on 10/03/2012