Do you feel everything that can go wrong at this moment is going wrong?
"It's really frustrating and incredibly challenging. I feel for the supporters. We're disappointed to lose tonight. I thought it was a relatively even game in the first half and we had a couple of good chances. I think the basics we can do better in terms of our defending and some of our football actions.
"But at the same time, we get back in the game and then the red card...it's where we're at at the moment in terms of things that can happen to us. We lost Denis beforehand as well and were just adjusting with Jorginho and then Joao – who was having a fantastic impact on the game and you could see his quality – to lose him and to lose him for three matches is really disappointing."
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Is the red card more frustrating or the defensive mistakes for the goals?
“All of them will be learning moments. Joao is a young player, a top player, you could see the quality he brought to the game. I didn’t see any malice in the challenge at all. It was a little bit high of course but the referee then has a decision to make. He’ll learn from it and like I said, rather than anything fantastic from the opponent it was more our basic actions that we can do better on. That is what we have to improve."
You opted not to bring on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, what was the thinking behind that?
“We had a back five and felt we should go to a 4-4-1 and keep Kai on because I felt he was leading the line and winning challenges and duels. We wanted to use Hakim [Ziyech] and Carney [Chukwuemeka] to break from wide and Conor [Gallagher] to break from the centre because you know you’re going to get driven back a bit. So that was the thinking.”
How do you break the emotional negativity that surrounds Chelsea at the moment?
“I don’t think it was an emotional one from Joao, it didn’t feel that to me. It was a miss-control and then just a football action that can happen with the speed of the Premier League and a game of football at this level.
"There was no malice, he didn’t go into hurt anybody, he didn’t lose his head, it just was what it was. Sometimes these things happen and they’re against you and you have to suffer. And believe you me, we are suffering at the moment.”
What's the latest on Denis Zakaria's injury?
“The only assessment is it's at the top of the quad. He felt it when he cleared the ball. In terms of the extent, it's too early to say."
Do you feel that Kepa Arrizabalaga could've done better on Fulham's second goal?
“I never like to speak about individuals when we lose. I think the goal itself is a frustrating one from our perspective because I didn’t think they were putting us under too much pressure even though they had an extra man. So felt like a soft goal to concede and that is something we have to do better with.”
The away supporters were very angry after the full-time whistle with players going straight down the tunnel, do you still feel the support from the fans?
“Yes, but I can also understand they are frustrated because we’ve lost. That is normal. I made sure I went over and clapped them because you appreciate the support. It’s not easy. We’re suffering and they are suffering. So we feel for them and feel their disappointment. I think it’s important we stick together and try to get through this tough period, because it really is a tough period.”
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