Chelsea boss wants team to build on win

Andre Villas-Boas has challenged his Chelsea team to follow up yesterday’s victory over Wolves by going on a run that he hopes will kickstart the club’s Barclays Premier League title challenge.

The Blues returned to winning ways at Stamford Bridge with a 3-0 win which came courtesy of goals from Daniel Sturridge, John Terry and Juan Mata.

The win came as a huge relief for Villas-Boas following a difficult seven day period which has seen his future come under scrutiny after defeats to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen.

The 34-year-old admitted yesterday that the club’s upcoming fixtures could prove pivotal in deciding whether Chelsea can claw back the nine point gap that separates his team from leaders Manchester City, and advance in the cup competitions.

The west London club take on Liverpool in the Carling Cup quarter-final on Tuesday and then tackle Newcastle and City in the league before playing Valencia in a match that will decide whether they make the Champions League knockout stages.

Villas-Boas, whose team had lost four of their previous seven before yesterday’s win, admits Chelsea’s confidence had been shaken by their recent poor form, but is now confident they can go on a good run to re-establish their chances of success both at home and in Europe.

“This win won’t automatically take us on a winning streak, but we hope it does,” Villas-Boas said.

“We have a big game against Liverpool in the Carling Cup next and this will be enough to give us desire to progress.

“We played with anxiety from the beginning (against Wolves) because of our recent run, but the players got the inspiration they needed to get the result and it was an important win for us.

“It’s natural after the run we have had that self-confidence was a little low, but we got back on track. We are very proud of the team.”

Chelsea’s task could be made harder this evening if City win their match in hand at Liverpool, but Villas-Boas was in a bullish mood about his side’s potential yesterday, insisting the club are still capable of clinching the title.

Chelsea did not play to their best yesterday, despite racing to a 3-0 lead by half-time.

Poor defending from the visitors helped make the Londoners’ task much easier, and had it not been for a superb performance from Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, and sharper finishing from the home side, the result could have been a real hiding.

But the 3-0 result was still highly encouraging for Villas-Boas, especially given that his defence, who have been criticised for leaking goals recently, never looked like conceding.

“The clean sheet was important for us,” he added.

“It was important for our pride, for our motivation. At Stamford Bridge we have conceded many in recent games so there is always that stigma from previous results, but I think the boys were solid and confident in defence.”

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy, whose team have now won one league game in 11 matches, will find himself under pressure if he fails to beat his former team Sunderland next Sunday.

The Yorkshireman admits he would love to have the players at Villas-Boas’ disposal to drag his club away from the relegation zone and hit back at the Chelsea manager’s critics.

“I’d sooner be under pressure with that squad,” McCarthy said.

“I have a lot of admiration for Andre. I hope it goes well for him. I hope he proves everyone wrong.

“It was never going to be an easy job coming here. Everyone was talking about Arsene Wenger being out of work not so long ago. How daft is that? This is daft.”

McCarthy knew it would be a tall order to take anything from Stamford Bridge despite the Londoners’ recent form and praised his team for their improved second half performance.

The only gripe the Wolves boss had was with referee Lee Mason’s decision to book Karl Henry for a foul on Ramires – a decision which rules him out of Wolves’ next game.

“That’ll never be a booking while I’ve got a hole in my a***,” McCarthy said.