Mauricio Pochettino has explained how Chelsea prepared for their 1-1 draw against Man City at the Etihad Stadium.

Raheem Sterling had his first-half opener cancelled out by Rodri, as Pep Guardiola’s men fought back from a goal down to draw the Blues at home.

Chelsea were difficult to break down and proved to be a formidable opponent for the reigning champions until very much later in the game.

Speaking in a post-match interview, Pochettino explained: “I will invite you to the training ground and show you how we prepared.

“It’s difficult to explain now in a few sentences in the way that we prepared. That is a job during the week, but that is not our capacity to prepare the game.

“It’s about the players to deliver on the job. They showed character today, I think we tried to prepare, all the coaching staff, to prepare and make the plan of the game and sometimes it works, sometimes not work. But football is a game that belongs to the players and today the execution and performance was from them.

“We know very well how Manchester City play here at the Etihad and it’s important to sustain the capacity to dominate and force you to play deep. And if you are not brave enough when you have the ball and you force them to run back and make effort, then it’s going to be like in the second half, you cannot leave your box or own half.

“For us, it was a really important game to keep the momentum, to realise we are in a good way and improving. Still we are not at the level of Manchester City but that is our aim and of course, we are a very young team that needs this type of game to improve and to create a spirit that we need to show in every single game.

“You want to be competitive because I think from the beginning, we were one of the best teams in the way we perform, create chances and I think after 15 games, we deserved to be in the top four.

“But football is not only to show good quality and be nice, it’s to be competitive and today the team has definitely showed we can be competitive also and play well.”

Chelsea did well against Man City, but the decision to go ultra defensive in the second-half killed the game, else the Blues may have gotten a victory.