Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell could feature as Graham Potter looks to progress, win against Southampton

Chelsea may have lost in Dortmund on Wednesday, making it four games on the bounce without a win and just two wins in our last thirteen in all competitions, but there were more positives to take from that defeat than just about any other match we’ve had under Graham Potter.

That’s a really, really thin silver lining on which to hang our collective hats, but at least we can hang them somewhere. And if we can actually build on that performance, it might even hold our hats up for more than just a few minutes.

There is obviously danger in becoming used to lower standards, expectations, ambitions. Winning is a habit, and so is losing, but one that is a lot harder to break. But hopefully we’ve now reached the bottom and are on our way up.

“I thought the Dortmund performance away from home given the context of the competition, of the opponent, the environment was another step forward but we have another challenge at the weekend because we’re at home against a Premier League side so we have to make sure we’re ready for that. Satisfied but always room to improve. [...] In terms of chances created was a positive for us, we maintain that, that’s the challenge for us. Then the quality of player we have in the final positions, I think we can score.

“[We] haven’t attacked as well as I’d have liked us to. Attacking well means creating chances, sustaining chances, good chances. It was closer against Dortmund. Good in the first part of the game against West Ham but the challenge is always to do it over 90 minutes. It’s not as simple as that because it’s the Premier League and there’s an opponent there but it’s what we need to do.

“[We] feel there’s progress but again you have to constantly see and evaluate where we’re at and what the circumstances are. It’s pretty straightforward. You play a game, you need to win. There’s lots of things going on in the background in terms of managing players back from injury, integrating new players into the team and all of the time you’re playing in competition and need to deal with that as well. That’s where we’re at, it’s exciting.”

Having all our players available, even if that presents new dilemmas and far too many choices to be ideal for the manager, will certainly be helpful in that regard. Ben Chilwell took a kick on Wednesday but should be available and Raheem Sterling could be back as well.

“We’re going to train later on this afternoon so providing they come through that okay there’s every chance they make the squad.

“[Chilwell] had 30 minutes against West Ham, 70 minutes against Dortmund, so the decision will be based on how he recovers today and how he reports back. We’ll make the call tonight or tomorrow about the extent he can play but it’s something we have to be mindful of.”

-Graham Potter; source: Football.London

Onwards and upwards.