Conor Gallagher's immediate reaction to young Chelsea fan holding up banner criticising players speaks volumes

Conor Gallagher’s reaction to a young fan holding up a banner criticising the Chelsea players speaks volumes.

On Tuesday night, Mauricio Pochettino’s men travelled to the Emirates Stadium looking to dent Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes.

However, Chelsea were not at the races from the get go as they were easily swept aside by the Gunners.

A brace each for Kai Havertz and Ben White plus a goal from Leandro Trossard sealed a 5-0 win for Mikel Arteta’s side.

During the match, the cameras caught a young Chelsea fan holding a banner which read: “I don't want your shirt! I want you to want to fight for ours.”

Speaking after the match, Gallagher, who captained Chelsea on the night, was asked about the banner.

He said: “We definitely are putting the effort in. I know how much it means to all the boys.

“I know it's been said many times; it's a very young squad with not much experience as a team in the Premier League.”

Gallagher continued: “As you’ve seen this season, we’ve had a lot of ups and a lot of downs as well. We’re still improving and working together as a team to get to that next level.

“Today it was one of those days where we were just nowhere near it. We need to kind of dust ourselves off but also look at that the performance and where we can improve, and all the mistakes we made, where we can put it right and just get ready for the next one.”

Former Chelsea and England star Joe Cole said afterwards: “It’s a difficult question for him to answer, because he would see the work that is going in on the training pitch.

“Maybe they’ve got it right. Maybe they’ve come up against an Arsenal team tonight that are just better than them. It’s a difficult thing. Him as a player, you can never level those questions, and I don’t think any Chelsea fan would level them at him personally...but I think there’ll be other players in the squad.

“When I think about ‘are they working hard enough’, I think about things like body language. What can you control as a footballer? You’re going through a tough time. You know the fans are upset. The fans pay their money. They can have an opinion. That is absolutely their right.”

Chelsea are next in action on Saturday when they take on Aston Villa in the Premier League.