Potter 'disappointed' to see first game as Chelsea boss end in draw

Graham Potter ‘disappointed’ to see his first game in charge of Chelsea end in a draw as he laments RB Salzburg’s ‘irritating’ equaliser… but praises his players for their ‘amazing’ attitude since his arrival

  • Chelsea remain bottom of Champions League group after RB Salzburg draw
  • Raheem Sterling’s opener was cancelled out by Noah Okafor’s equaliser 
  • Graham Potter admitted his side lacked cutting edge in his first game in charge 
  • He lamented equaliser but said players had responded well to his arrival at club 

Graham Potter expressed his disappointment at seeing his first game as Chelsea boss end in a 1-1 draw against RB Salzburg.

The Blues remain bottom of their Champions League group after Raheem Sterling’s opener was cancelled out by Noah Okafor’s equaliser 15 minutes before time in west London.

The hosts lacked cutting edge before and after Sterling’s goal, and Potter admitted his side’s finishing at Stamford Bridge needs to improve but reassured fans the team will improve.

Graham Potter admits he is disappointed after his first game as Chelsea boss ended in a draw

Raheem Sterling (centre) opened the scoring for the Blues early on in the second half

Potter – who took charge of his first Champions League game as manager – told BT Sport: ‘[I am] disappointed with the result in the end. I think they boys gave everything, I really did. They attacked well. 

‘We missed a bit in the final third. Their keeper [Philipp Kohn] made some good saves. We got into the final third a lot. We got Raheem into 1v1 situations often which was good.

‘They had a lot of blocks and we didn’t finish well all the time. We have to dust ourselves done. The application was great. We will get better.

But Noah Okafor equalised for RB Salzburg to ensure the Austrian side took away a point

Potter admitted his side lacked cutting edge in their Champions League match in west London

‘[I am] disappointed with the result but the boys gave everything and it wasn’t meant to be today.’

Potter also credited the Austrian Bundesliga side for taking their chance when they were in the ascendancy, but admitted ‘little details’ had contributed to his side conceding an ‘irritating’ equaliser.

‘It’s not easy to control how they play,’ Potter added. ‘You have to credit them for that. It’s impossible to control the whole thing for 90 minutes and the bits we didn’t they scored in. 

‘It’s always irritating when you concede a goal. The overall defensive performance was good. 

However, he praised the players for responding well to him since he replaced Thomas Tuchel

‘It’s the little details. It’s not been easy for the boys as well but they’ve responded really well to us (arriving at the club). The attitude has been amazing.’

The former Brighton boss will have to wait until after the international break against Crystal Palace for his first chance to register his maiden win as Blues boss.

Chelsea were set to take on Liverpool this weekend in the Premier League but that match has now been postponed with police resources stretched ahead of the Queen’s funeral.

In the Champions League, their next match sees them face a daunting trip to take on Group E leaders AC Milan at San Siro. 




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