Potter happy with Chelsea’s ‘step forward’ as his players ‘will get better’ after draw to West Ham

Graham Potter has argued that Chelsea’s performance in the draw against West Ham on Saturday was a “step forward” compared to previous recent games.

The Blues went into this weekend’s clash three games unbeaten in the Premier League. But on this run, they only scored one goal and had goalless draws against Liverpool and Fulham.

January signings Benoit Badiashile, Enzo Fernandes, Noni Madueke, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Joao Felix all started against the Hammers at the London Stadium.

Chelsea were excellent in patches and Felix scored his first goal for the club as he broke the deadlock. They were not in front for too long though as ex-Blues man Emerson Palmieri equalised for West Ham before the interval.

West Ham had a goal ruled out for offside in the second half. This was before Chelsea arguably should have been awarded a spot-kick after Tomas Coucek handled the ball in the penalty area.

Potter’s side were made to settle for a 1-1 draw and this result sees them remain ninth in the Premier League ahead of this weekend’s remaining fixtures.

The Chelsea head coach praised his players after the final whistle as they have taken a “step forward”.

“I think you could see positives in the performances for us, especially in the first half. It was a step forward for us in terms of the previous game and lots to go forward with,” Potter told BT Sport.

“We are in a process where we are getting guys up to speed, guys match minutes so the ability to sustain what we want to do is the challenge for us so there were positives in the game.”

On the Soucek handball incident, he added: “It looks it but these are the little things you need to go in your favour and at the moment they are not so that’s life there is nothing to complain about. We have to keep working. There were positives today and some good attacking moments from players adapting to the Premier League.

“We had real control of the game and it was a cheap goal from our perspective. That lifts the crowd and makes it more difficult but that is something we have to manage better. We will get better from the experience.”

Felix added that he “feels comfortable” in Chelsea’s team as it is “unbelievable” how much quality they have in their squad.

“I think we did a great game and controlled the game. They scored when we were good but that is football. We had chances to score but we go strong for the game,” Felix said.

“We fought for the three points but I think we are strong for the next match. I feel comfortable playing in that team. There is so much quality it is unbelievable and now we need to fight together and we have everything to do a big rest of the season.”

READ MORE: Chelsea have the raw ingredients but there will be no quick fix for Graham Potter