Potter defiant after Chelsea draw with Fulham

Graham Potter insisted he was not worried about the possibility of Chelsea missing out on the top four following the goalless draw at home to Fulham.

The result continued the Blues’ poor run under head coach Potter, whose position is under added scrutiny after the club’s big spending during last month’s transfer window.

Potter said: “I’m confident with the potential that we have and the ability we have in the group.

“What we need now is to gel the team. That’s the challenge. There’s a lot of football to play.

“I don’t want to waste too much time worrying what we’re going to do in four months’ time. I need to focus on the next day, the next training session and the next game.”

Meanwhile, Potter admitted that leaving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of his Champions League squad was a difficult decision.

He said: “Pierre is a professional. I understand he will be disappointed and it was a tough decision. We had three coming in and he was the one that missed out.

“He’s done nothing wrong at all. He’ll be fighting for his place for the rest of the season.”

Aubameyang was not at Stamford Bridge for the Fulham game and was reportedly in Milan.

Potter said: “He trained today, trained very well and he’s got the weekend off, so we can report on Monday. It’s a free world.

“Whichever decision we made, there was always going to be a conversation about it. It was a tough decision but sometimes you have to make these calls. It’s nothing bad against him.”