Reece James has insisted Chelsea did not deserve to lose the game against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Enzo Fernandez had put the Blues ahead in the first half at Villa Park but the home side bounced back in the second period, with Marco Asensio scoring twice to give Unai Emery’s side the win. It means Chelsea have now lost three on the bounce and sit sixth in the Premier League, one point off Manchester City in fourth who play Liverpool on Sunday.
“It’s really disappointing to leave with nothing,” James told the media after the game. “Especially when you consider had the lead at half-time, having started the game so well.
“In the second half, it was a different game. That’s what is frustrating I think. We worked hard all week on analysing Villa and where we could exploit them and I think we created many chances in the first half. In the second half, it was a totally different game.
“We’re very disappointed because I don’t think we deserved to lose the game. We created more than enough chances to add to Pedro’s opener and we’ve conceded two goals from our own collective mistakes as a team.”
The Chelsea captain started in central midfield against Villa, alongside Moises Caicedo. It is a position he has played before and the natural right-back says he is more than willing to play wherever Enzo Maresca needs him.
“Yes, it was a completely different position to what I’m used to but that doesn’t worry me, it’s somewhere I have experience playing in so it wasn’t anything new to me,” he said. “Wherever the manager needs me, I’ll play there and give my all to help the team.”
Attention now turns to Tuesday when Chelsea welcome Southampton to Stamford Bridge. James believes that his side can beat the Saints if they perform like they did in the first half at Villa Park.
“We have a big game on Tuesday, in front of our own fans, and now it’s time for us to stick together and come through this patch,” James added. “If we put in a performance on Tuesday like we did in the first half, then I’m sure we can take all three points.”
