Chelsea boss Graham Potter has discussed dealing with the recent criticism he has faced and admits he expected periods when he would come under pressure at Stamford Bridge.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t expect it at some point,” he said. “You take this job on and of course, there are going to be times when it is not a pleasant road. You have to deal with that.

“We have had a six-week period when we have played 13 matches, eight of them away. It has a toll, with some injuries to key players. It can get messy, that is part of the process. I have been through it at Brighton, at Swansea and my club in Sweden.

“It is what it is. That is part of what the job is, to deal with it.

“When results were good I was honest enough to say there were things we needed to improve. It’s not as if I could say we had cracked football.

“Performance-wise we can improve a lot. That is the challenge. We are looking forward to this game, and the game at Newcastle [on Saturday]. That is when you can learn a lot about each other.”