Chelsea fans made their displeasure felt after their 1-0 home loss to bottom club Southampton and manager Graham Potter concedes it was a “step back” for the Blues.
James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick on the stroke of half-time proved the difference as Chelsea couldn’t muster up a second-half response.
Chelsea had lost 1-0 in midweek away to Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League in a game where they dominated the chances but couldn’t score.
The Blues had 17-8 goal attempts against Southampton but both teams managed five on goal.
“After a 1-0 defeat at home, any criticism you get is understandable,” Potter told reporters.
“I think we’ve had a tough period and I think we’ve had lots of challenges in terms of integrating young players into the Premier League. While results don’t go your way it can be tough, that is how it is.
“I’m sure there will be people out there that think I’m the problem, absolutely. I don’t think they’re right but I’m not arrogant enough to say their opinion isn’t worth articulating.
“My job is to help the team, keep working through a team period, we’ve had to make some changes today and the truth is we took a step back in our performance in the first half.
“The response in the second half was good, but it wasn’t good enough.”
The former Brighton boss left out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again and explained the decision, with the forward seemingly frozen out.
“I would say keep doing what he’s doing,” Potter said. “We made the decision to give David (Fofana) the opportunity and we still had Kai (Havertz) and Raheem (Sterling) coming on and I think they impacted the game well.
“But obviously, when you don’t score and have created chances, I understand the question.”
There was a scary late incident that left captain Cesar Azpilicueta concussed and Potter clarified he had been taken to hospital.
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