Giroud still targeting top four spot

OLIVIER Giroud has refused to let Chelsea give up on even the slightest chance of Champions League qualification.

The substitute struck twice as Chelsea scored three times in eight minutes for a 3-2 comeback victory at Southampton.

The France striker then channelled that never-say-die spirit again when insisting the Blues cannot admit defeat in their topfour quest, despite still trailing fourth-placed Tottenham by seven points.

“As long as mathematically it is going to be possible, we are go-

At the double: Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud

ing to believe,” said Giroud.

“So we take the games one by one and we have maybe five or six finals to play. Let’s do the job and we will see what the other teams do.”

Relegation-threatened Southampton stunned Chelsea by sweeping into a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Dusan Tadic and Jan Bednarek.

The Blues turned the game on its head thanks to Giroud’s smart brace, however, and another neat finish from Eden Hazard.

Giroud hailed his first two league goals for Chelsea and then paid tribute to the character of Antonio Conte’s men.

“Obviously I was waiting for that,” Giroud told Chelsea’s official website.

“I have tried so many times to put it in the back of the net. When you are a striker you need to keep going and keep your confidence high, even if I have been playing a bit less recently.” STOKE manager Paul Lambert refuses to consider the prospect of relegation despite just one win since Christmas leaving the club rooted in the Premier League’s bottom two.

The Potters are effectively five points from safety because of their inferior goal difference, which is minus 33, and having accrued just eight points since Boxing Day their decade-long stay in the top flight is under serious threat.

But despite having just five matches to secure their escape Lambert, who faces a crucial game at West Ham tonight, will not countenance talk of a drop into the Championship.

“I’ve never thought about it. I’ve just thought about staying in the league and that is still my aim: stay in the league and we can look at next season from there,” he said.