Caretaker manager Frank Lampard says that Chelsea are beginning to make progress as they went down to a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
With City having been crowned champions on Saturday night, Pep Guardiola made nine changes to the team that thrashed Real Madrid in the Champions League earlier in the week.
When Julian Alvarez put City into an early lead, it felt inevitable that more goals would follow, but Chelsea matched their in-form opponents for the remainder of the match.
As well as Conor Gallagher hitting the post with a header, Raheem Sterling squandered a number of openings and Cesar Azpilicueta was only denied a last-gasp equaliser due to the intervention of Phil Foden.
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Lampard has now lost seven of his nine fixtures in temporary charge, a record which will be highlighted when he departs the club before the end of the month.
Nevertheless, the legendary midfielder feels that Chelsea have started to turn a corner ahead of what everyone hopes will be more productive under Mauricio Pochettino.
Speaking to the club's official website, Lampard said: "We played pretty well and I am pretty pleased with the performance. It is tough here no matter what team City put out, internationals and quality young players contributing through the years.
"For us, it was a tough game and we played well after the first 15 minutes where we gave them too much respect. After the goal, we created enough here to score one or two goals.
"You should always play for pride for #Chelsea. There is an incoming manager, and if that is the motivation then fine. At times they have fell short of that but today we got close to pride, you can see it in the performance and team."
With two matches remaining, Chelsea sit in 12th position in the Premier League standings, albeit trailing Crystal Palace by one point with a game in hand.
Chelsea end the season with an away encounter against Manchester United on Thursday night before they play host to Newcastle United three days later.
Darren Plant
