SARRI: IT’S NO FAILURE TO MISS TOP FOUR

MAURIZIO SARRI has insisted it would not be a failure if Chelsea do not finish in the top four and their season should still be regarded as a good one. The Chelsea manager said he thought his side were ‘doing well’, having made it to the final of the Carabao Cup, the semi-finals of the Europa League and being in the hunt for a Champions League spot. Sarri’s future at the club remains uncertain, and could well depend on where his side finish in the Premier League. With three games remaining, Chelsea sit fourth, one point ahead of Arsenal and three clear of Manchester United. But, despite describing tomorrow’s trip to Old Trafford as ‘more than important’, Sarri claimed it should not be seen as a flop if Chelsea ended the season — his first in charge — in fifth or sixth place. The 60-year-old Italian said: ‘No, we played a final. We lost the final on penalties. We are in the semi-final in the Europa League. We are fighting for the top four. So the season, at the moment, is good. ‘Of course we have two very, very strong targets: we want the top four in the Premier League and, at the moment, we want to go to the final of the Europa League. If we are able to get to the final, then we will want to win the final. ‘We are doing well, I think. Of course, it’s only the first step. We need to improve more. We need to become competitive for the top. The first step, though, is good.’ Chelsea visit United having lost five of their last six away games against the top six, and Sarri said the key to improving that disappointing record would be surviving the ‘10 minutes of difficulties’ that occur during these crunch games. N’Golo Kante faces a race against time to recover from the rib injury that saw him substituted against Burnley on Monday, while Antonio Rudiger is expected to return following a knee injury. Sarri was fined £8,000 by the FA after accepting a misconduct charge, following an altercation with Burnley’s backroom staff on Monday that saw him sent to the stands. It has been claimed Sarri was called a ‘s*** Italian’ during the heated exchange, but he refused to be drawn on the details of the incident yesterday.