Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has lamented his side's lack of Champions League experience despite their win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
The European champions led their Group E encounter three times, with Victor Moses's stoppage-time goal proving enough to earn the Blues a 3-2 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Despite conceding his side's fortune with the timing of their winner, Di Matteo firmly believes that Chelsea deserved their triumph.
"It was always going to be a difficult game," said Di Matteo. "They showed that they are a very good team. Maybe with the timing of the [winning] goal there was a little bit of luck, but I think overall we deserved to win.
"We probably lacked a little bit of experience – we didn't have [Frank] Lampard or [Ashley] Cole available [through injury], and John Terry didn't play – so there was a lot of Champions League experience missing from the pitch. But I think the players that played did incredibly well and deserve a lot of credit. We managed to win under a lot of pressure.
"I guess there's an extra motivation for the opposition to play against the champions of last season, so it makes every game hard for us."
Chelsea host Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday in their next match.
Matt Cotton
