Chelsea 'feel the pain of the supporters', says Graham Potter after loss to Villa

Graham Potter said he feels the pain of Chelsea supporters after some fans called for him to leave at the end of his side's 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

Boos rang around Stamford Bridge as Potter’s side fell to a fourth home loss since the manager took charge in September, a result which saw them slip below Villa into the Premier League’s bottom half.

Goals in either half from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn were enough to ruin any hope Chelsea had of building on the good form they had found prior to the international break, as once again a lack of goalscoring threat meant promising build-up play was wasted.

Defender Marc Cucurella was at fault as Watkins gave the visitors the lead after 18 minutes, but it was a brilliant 30-yard strike from McGinn that buried the hosts’ attempts at a fightback, curling into the bottom corner after the Blues defence had failed to clear a set-piece.

Thereafter Chelsea struggled to rediscover the attacking fluency they had enjoyed in the first half, slipping to a defeat that had some voices near the dugout demanding the manager’s removal.

"I thought the team gave everything," said Potter.

"The intention of the team was there. You can tell by how many times we got in their box, the shots we had. There was a positive intent but the scoreline is painful for us.

"Today is a bit of a setback, of course it is. We can feel the pain of the supporters. We have to dust ourselves down and go again for Tuesday.

"I understand when you lose at home, the emotion of the game is such that people are going to be disappointed and frustrated and angry. Where we are in the league table, no one’s happy with. Whatever criticism comes I have to accept.

"We got into some good opportunities from an attacking perspective. We won