Mauricio Pochettino has said he is confident that Chelsea are improving after the club’s 3-1 win at Aston Villa.
Chelsea progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup with an impressive replay win at Villa Park in midweek, bouncing back from last weekend’s Premier League defeat to Wolves with a much improved performance.
The West Londoners will look to build on that display when Pochettino’s team travel to face Crystal Palace on Monday night and the Blues’ boss said his team are in a good moment.
“The difference is the amount of noise was so big and the performance was really good. We feel really good because we realised we need to compete in different ways,” he told his pre-match press conference.
“We need to feel we can perform in this way. I think it was a good opportunity, good game to try and be consistent now in the next game.”
Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke returned to the side against Aston Villa and Pochettino was asked whether that performance had cemented his best XI.
“It’s difficult to say with all the circumstances we have from the beginning. I think it’s difficult to say that’s the starting XI in my mind.
“Little by little we are recovering players, they need time to reach the level we expect from them. The way we train, and the players behave the attitude we are showing, we are improving.”
The Argentine provided an update on the fitness of his squad and said Benoit Badisahile and Levi Colwill will be assessed ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park.
“[Benoit] Badiashile we need to asses, wait for the scan. Maybe Levi Colwill we need to wait until Sunday to see if it’s possible for him to be available. [Trevor] Chalobah is doing well, training with the team. After that, nothing to update at the moment.”
