Graham Potter admitted he was left frustrated after Chelsea’s disappointing 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest at City Ground Stadium on Sunday.
On Sunday at the City Ground, Raheem Sterling put Chelsea ahead in the first half.
But Ivory Coast defender Serge Aurier tied it up after halftime, and Forest dominated for long stretches of the second half, so Chelsea were lucky to avoid an embarrassing loss.
Chelsea is stuck in eighth place because they haven’t won in six of their last seven league games.
The Blues are seven points behind fourth-place Manchester United in the race to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League.
“We need to be more consistent. It would help to get players back, the key ones and then you can build consistency in key places,” Potter said.
“It’s always tough because you have a lot of big teams with lots of top players and coaches.
“We have a long way to go so it would be a mistake to think about what could happen in five months time.”
Just a few months after taking over for the fired Thomas Tuchel, Potter is starting to get some criticism as the early hope that came with his move to Chelsea from Brighton starts to fade.
When Chelsea beat Bournemouth 2-0 on Christmas Day, it was meant to be a sign that things would get better in 2023.
But it’s probably too early for Potter to worry about losing his first high-pressure job, but the 47-year-old needs to do better in the new year to keep Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly from having to deal with a tough situation.
“Our performance level wasn’t good enough to take the three points. We didn’t move the ball fast enough,” Potter said.
“Forest played a good game but we’re disappointed with our performance and concerned we didn’t deserve the win. It was overall below par for us.”
Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta added to the gloom when he said: “Since the beginning of the season we have lost too many points and we are really far from where we want to be.
“We need to have a very good second half of the season if we want to play in the Champions League next season.”
Photo by EPA/VINCE MIGNOTT
