Stoke star Charlie Adam backs Blues to bounce back after League Cup shock -Chelsea

The Blues’ horror star to the season took a turn for the worst on Wednesday, as the holders were knocked out of the League Cup fourth-round in a penalty shoot-out against the Potters.

 

Jose Mourinho’s men have now lost seven games in all competitions this season, with the reigning Premier League champions currently 15th in the table after just three wins from ten games.

Their shocking recent form has been the focus of headlines for weeks, with various reports claiming Mourinho is on the brink of the sack, while others suggest the team have lost faith and are no longer playing for the boss.

But, having played 90 minutes in Stoke’s win over Chelsea, Scotland international Adam insists the reigning champions are still as tough to beat as ever and will surely bounce back from their torrid run.

Speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, the midfielder - who was on target from the spot against the Blues - said: “It was a fantastic result for us against the champions.

“You always know you’re going to get a tough game, but we managed to weather the storm and the lads did a terrific job keeping it tight and restricting Chelsea to limited chances.

“It was a massive disappointment to lose against Watford in the league, but we managed to bounce back and there’s no better team to beat than one of the big ones.

“I thought Chelsea played really well. Hazard, Oscar and Willian, they caused us a lot of problems.

“They do look as if they’re confident, there’s confidence there, but at the moment things just aren’t going well for them.

“Normally a player like Ramires would go around the goalkeeper and slot in, but he ends up putting it wide.

“Sometimes this happens, you have a dip in form, but the problem for Chelsea is that every defeat is getting scrutinised because they’re the champions.

“That’s the difficult part, that’s the expectation when you play at a big club, being champions and being expected to win trophies every year.

“For us, we wanted to try and make it hard for them. We knew it would be difficult, they’re got world class players who are going to make it difficult for us, but we were solid, we counter-attacked well and - apart from the goal in the last minute - we were delighted with the result.”