Graham Potter believes that you are just 90 minutes away from a ‘crisis’ at Chelsea, but has called for perspective amid their recent loss to Brighton.
The head coach arrived at the Blues at the beginning of September and enjoyed a good start to life at the club.
Chelsea went nine games unbeaten in all competitions, but fell to a 4-1 defeat against Potter’s former side Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
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The Seagulls secured a three goal advantage at half-time and despite Kai Havertz netting shortly after the break, the hosts claimed the win.
Such a result now leaves Chelsea three points adrift of the top four in the Premier League table.
During his pre-match press conference for the Champions League clash against Dinamo Zagreb, Potter was asked about feeling the pressure after the poor result against Brighton.
In response, he said: "In my job, you have to be careful what you listen to.
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“People can talk, say whatever, it's part of life. When you're at a club like this, you're only 90 minutes away from 'crisis'.
“You have to put it in perspective and look at it intelligently as you can."
Chelsea’s match against Zagreb will be their final test of the Champions League group stage before the knockout rounds next year.
The Blues were able to secure their progression to the last 16 last week when they beat RB Salzburg 2-1 away from home.
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Potter’s side will also finish top of the group, an impressive outcome considering they were winless in their first two games of this season’s competition.
The loss against Brighton was the head coach’s first since he made the switch to Stamford Bridge, with the defeat also being the club’s fourth of the campaign in all competitions.
Potter spoke on the result against his former side: "It's never nice to lose, in the matter that we did was not pleasant.
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“They came out the blocks fast, we didn't do that ourselves. Before we can talk about tactics, we are two nil down.
"We had a big chance to make it 2-1, then the game became more open that we'd have liked. In the end, we didn't do well enough to get the points."
Chelsea’s tie against Zagreb will be their first for the month of November, with the west London side set for a difficult schedule ahead of the break for the World Cup.
They will host London rivals and current Premier League table-toppers Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, before travelling to Manchester City for their Carabao Cup clash, and a trip to Newcastle will be their final match until the end of the year, with a number of Chelsea stars set to feature in the World Cup in Qatar.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Chelsea, Graham Potter, Brighton And Hove Albion, Premier League