Benitez issues a rally cry

RAFAEL BENITEZ has called on Chelsea to assemble a winning run and prove to the doubters that everything is going well at the club after his side swept past Stoke City 4-0.

Blues supporters are still not onside with the Spaniard, who replaced Roberto Di Matteo as manager in November, and he felt the heat again at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday when they lost to Swansea in their League Cup semi-final first leg.

However, they bounced back in style on Saturday to end Stoke’s 11month unbeaten home record thanks to two own goals from Jon Walters, a Frank Lampard penalty, and a stunning strike from Eden Hazard.

Now Benitez wants his side to put a run together and see if they can close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United.

“You have to realise, and it is difficult if you are not watching the training, the team is doing well,” he said.

“The players are happy. The players are training well and try to perform.

“The atmosphere inside (the club) is great. We cannot control what is going on outside the pitch. We will try to do our best on the pitch and hopefully it will be easier.

“I think we have to approach every game as a challenge and try to win our games and see where that leaves us.

“The Premier League is a difficult competition and we have to just think about the next three points and see where we are in the table.

“Crisis is not the case. We are scoring more goals than in the past. We are conceding half the goals that the team was in the past and that means there is more balance to sustain the performance at this level.” – Sapa-AFP