Chelsea boss Graham Potter has hit back after he was recently criticised by Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole for not making more of the controversial handball incident during the Blues’ 1-1 draw with West Ham last Saturday.

Ferdinand told BT Sport: “[Jose] Mourinho in years gone by at Chelsea would have been out there in the presser tomorrow and that would’ve been the story, the back page would’ve been Mourinho slams VAR and takes the focus off what happens on the pitch.”

Chelsea legend Cole agreed, adding: “You need to cause a bit of an uproar because it deflects from the bad elements of your performance but it puts it on VAR.”

Reacting to the criticism from Ferdinand and Cole, Potter said: “I’m careful not to get into discussion through the media.

“Of course I get angry, I’m a human being, it’s just that I choose to conduct myself in the way I believe I should.

“The same media are talking about me being more angry and then running stories about referees at grassroots level. It’s an emotional thing but I have a responsibility to Chelsea, the game and myself to act in a certain way for me.

“If you think you can start a coaching career in the ninth tier of English football and get to this point now, with Chelsea and the Champions League, without being angry or getting nice, I would suggest you don’t know anything about anything.”