Cahill ‘hurt’ by Arsenal defeat

GARY CAHILL SAYS he and the Chelsea squad are hurt by their Community Shield defeat to Arsenal but believes his side will bounce back as they prepare to begin their title defence this weekend.

Cahill is disappointed to have started in such a manner but says his side have what it takes to put it behind them.

“No, not a setback, I see it as a disappointment, I see it as hurtful, losing a game we wanted to win, an opportunity to win a trophy, I don’t care what trophy it is,” he said.

“Obviously a penalty shoot-out is a cruel way to finish a game, so no, disappointed and the next couple of days are going to be a disappointment but we need to get going and prepare for what’s going to be an important season.”

Sunday’s defeat comes after a sluggish pre-season including losses against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup.

But despite their slow start to the year Cahill insists all is well in the camp.

“The mood is fine, going into this game. This game will be disappointing, the results in Singapore to be honest are what they are,” he added.

“I take them with a pinch of salt but, like I said, Sunday was disappointing, we prepared more for this ( the Community Shield) and felt we’d recharged the batteries in terms of what we’d done in China and Singapore and we were ready for the game, but fell short.”