Thomas Tuchel ‘worried’ over Chelsea’s top-four chances after Brighton draw

The Blues sit fourth with six games to go but face fifth-place West Ham at the weekend

Tuchel’s side have won one of their last four at home in the league

(The FA via Getty Images)

Thomas Tuchel has admitted to being “worried” about Chelsea’s Premier League top-four bid after dropping points at home to Brighton and West Brom.

Chelsea ground out a goalless draw with 10-man Brighton at Stamford Bridge on a Tuesday night overshadowed by the apparent collapse of the European Super League.

Brighton ended the night without Ben White but also wasted the game’s best chances, leaving Blues boss Tuchel admitting his side rode their luck.

With the Brighton draw adding to the 5-2 home defeat by West Brom, Tuchel also conceded Chelsea must now fight for a top-four finish the hard way.

“I fear I will never be pleased with a point at Stamford Bridge,” said Tuchel. “It was clearly our target to win the home match, even if we knew it’s a tough one.

“I was a bit concerned about the physical impact of travelling of Porto and Man City. But we decided to let the team play with not so many changes between Porto and Man City.

“Today we had enough changes to be a bit fresher. Maybe we lacked one day in between matches to be a bit more relaxed, to be a bit fresher. But we have to admit also there were huge distractions on our game.

“Given all the circumstances, we are clearly not happy but have to accept we did not deserve more today, which was maybe for the first time. We will see if it’s in our hands for the top four. We missed chances in our two home matches which worries me a little bit, but that’s how it is and we have to keep on going.

“Brighton were very strong, a very underrated team.

“They have a lot of quality, unique style of playing, difficult to create chances against them, they almost man-mark across the whole pitch.

“That created problems for us, and we could not find the answers. And we were a bit tired mentally and physically.”

Brighton boss Graham Potter saluted his side’s dogged approach to claim a deserved point in west London.

“We hit the post and had a couple of good chances, but overall I thought our players were amazing,” said Potter.

“The commitment for the game, we sacrificed for each other and showed great personality, so we’re happy with the clean sheet and the point, and we move forwards.”

PA