Gary Cahill 'hurt' by Community Shield defeat to Arsenal but backs Chelsea to bounce back

The Premier League champions lost on penalties in the annual curtain-raiser at Wembley as the Gunners rallied from going behind to triumph on spot kicks

Gary Cahill was disappointed to lose the Community Shield (Getty)

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 next weekend.

The Premier League champions lost on penalties in the annual curtain-raiser at Wembley as the Gunners rallied from going behind to Victor Moses' opener with new signing Sead Kolasinac equalising before they triumphed on spot kicks.

Cahill, now club captain following the departure of John Terry at the end of last season, 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. "We're training double sessions before playing the games, so in terms of fatigue or feeling fresh for those games is definitely not how you feel going into those games.

"I take them with a pinch of salt but, like I said, today's disappointing, we prepared more for this 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."