Essien wants Chelsea to finish with a flourish

MICHAEL ESSIEN wants to see Chelsea forget their defeat in Barcelona and finish the season in style.

Essien was suspended from both legs of the Champions League clash with Barca. The Blues lost 3-2 on aggregate and the £23m midfielder must watch the closing stages of the competition on television as his former club Lyon prepare for the quarter-finals.

The Ghanaian will be back in Jose Mourinho’s squad for tomorrow’s league game against Tottenham when the Premiership champions hope to respond with another big step towards defending their title.

Essien, 23, said: “Losing games is part of a long season. The loser has to put the defeat behind him in order to move forward.

“It is only when you find the ability to forget that you can go on and achieve greater things.”

If Manchester United win their last 11 games, Chelsea will need 19 more points to secure their second successive Premiership title. That means six wins and a draw from their last 10 games, starting with the London derby against Spurs, at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.

The task seems straightforward but Chelsea are in their worst run of form since Mourinho took over as manager.

Mourinho’s team have won five, drawn four and lost two of their last 11 games in all competitions. The reaction to their European heartbreak in Barcelona will determine whether they can surpass last season’s success.

The Blues can still clinch their first league and FA Cup double and that should be enough to justify the enormous financial investment of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and keep the heat off Mourinho.

The Portuguese has been under fire recently, from Barcelona fans who dislike his outspoken style, and from experts who criticised his decision to change his team tactics in Barcelona.

Mourinho abandoned the 4-3-3 system which has served him so well and switched to 4-4-2, with Arjen Robben in central attack alongside Didier Drogba.

Robben admits he struggled with his new role. The Dutch winger said: “It was difficult. First half we played a lot of long balls and I was waiting and guessing a little bit on second balls and we didn’t get a lot of them.”

Mourinho tried to explain his tactical thinking to supporters on Chelsea TV. The boss said: “The thinking behind that was to have three fast players to make Arjen more free than normal, to try to get Arjen behind defenders because defenders want to press Joe Cole and Damien Duff as wingers.

“It was also to try to get second balls from Didier and give more space to Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard to have the ball in midfield. The team didn’t play a wonderful game, partly because Barcelona were tactical. Normally they are not tactical, they are about the talent of the players but this time they thought the game tactically and defended a lot.”

Chelsea, meanwhile, have vowed to fight the FA charge of failing to control their players, during last weekend’s win at West Brom.