MY ACCOUNT
Reece James insists struggling Chelsea are working hard to save their season.
The Blues slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League table on Saturday as Aston Villa secured a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge to leapfrog them and move up to ninth following Fulham’s defeat at Bournemouth.
But James, who was deployed on the right of a back three in the absence of the injured Wesley Fofana, is adamant Graham Potter’s side have not thrown in the towel.
He said: “We had the chances to get a goal but we didn’t take them and got punished.
“It’s very tough but we’re working hard. It’s just the small details that are not clicking at the moment and we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and try to change this.”
A mistake from Marc Cucurella gifted in-form Ollie Watkins the opportunity to open the scoring after 18 minutes.
He calmly lifted the ball over Kepa Arrizabalaga and the home crowed appeared resigned to the fact from that point on that the result was not going to go their way.
John McGinn’s 56th-minute strike wrapped up the points for Unai Emery’s men but James believes it may have worked out differently had Ben Chilwell’s header shortly before half-time not been disallowed for a push.
The England star, 23, said: “When a team go 1-0 up and they’re away from home, of course they’re going to try to get every foul and decision going their way.
“Personally, I thought it was harsh but the referee is the referee.”
Potter must quickly lift his side for Tuesday’s rescheduled home clash with Liverpool, who were thumped 4-1 by Manchester City after taking the lead through Mohamed Salah at the Etihad.
