Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has told Eden Hazard he must match the work-rate of his team-mates if he is to regain his place in the team.
Hazard was left out of the starting line-up for the 2-0 win against Aston Villa, with Pedro and Willian occupying the flanks.
Mourinho said he shook up his midfield to give the defence extra protection – and warned Hazard he would not just walk back into a winning team.
He said: “I left out Hazard because we are conceding lots of goals.
“We need to defend better. We need our midfield players to be just concerned with being solid, not looking to the left or to the right.
“Willian and Pedro did amazing defensive work. I continue that way [leaving Hazard out] or he comes in our direction, and tries to play that way.”
Mourinho was pleased with the victory, which lifted the Blues up to 11th, but admitted it was far from a vintage display.
He said: “It was not a brilliant performance, it was a solid performance.
“In football, you are brilliant when the confidence levels are very high and the players are able to show their qualities.
“When the confidence is a bit low and they feel the pressure of the moment, the quality goes a little bit down.
“You have to bring other ingredients to the game and they did that amazingly well.
“In this moment, it’s difficult to be brilliant. But I was expecting this kind of answer.”
This post was last modified on 20/10/2015