Chelsea lost their third consecutive Premier League in a row, equaling a 20-year-old record. The first time Chelsea endured such a terrible run was in 2002.
Joe Willock’s second-half strike was enough to give Eddie Howe’s side their fifth consecutive victory in six Premier League games.
Newcastle United are third in the Premier League with 30 points, two points behind second-place Manchester City and seven points behind first-place Arsenal.
The blues are now eighth in the Premier League after a defeat to Newcastle United and eight points behind fourth-place Tottenham.
Graham Potter has revealed that fatigue and injury some key players have contributed to Chelsea’s recent struggles.
What did Graham Potter say after Chelsea’s defeat to Newcastle United?
Asked if he is concerned about Chelsea‘s recent struggles, Graham Potter said: “It’s not nice to not get results.
“It’s as simple as that but I have to look at why that is and the situation that we’ve had to deal with. It hasn’t been straightforward at all.
“We’ve had a lot of games, a few injuries to key players, destabilized us, today again you see they’re missing. Just had a period that’s been incredibly challenging.
“You face four of the teams in the best moment in the Premier League in terms of the version of themselves and that can challenge you as well. As much as we can’t accept it, we have to deal with it and try to move forward.”
Potter insisted that Chelsea’s tall injury list has also resulted in their recent struggles.
He added: “It doesn’t make it any easier. Losing Ruben when we did and the Azpi was also struggling a little bit so we had to take him off at halftime.
“It doesn’t make it easy against a team in a really good moment, playing with huge intensity, and while I thought the first half was even, they started the second half better than us.
“We had to adjust a little bit and we did that. Conor had an opportunity, Pope made a good save then Newcastle scored and we had to push again.
“I think we had too many unforced errors to maintain any real good quality and pressure. Again, credit to Newcastle, they’re playing well, and they’re in a really good moment. You can see probably the difference in schedules of one game a week versus the intense period we’ve had.
“I thought we had some opportunities. Too many unforced errors, I thought we got into some spaces quite well but then a sloppy pass that isn’t normally like us.
“I have to defend the players in terms of fatigue, in terms of what we’ve had to deal with but Newcastle doesn’t make it easy for you. You can see they’re one of the best teams defensively in the Premier League so again, credit to them for that. It was a tough game for us.”
The World Cup break will provide a nice opportunity for Chelsea’s injured players to fully recover for the remaining matches of the season.
