Graham Potter has indicated that he was relieved to see Chelsea get back on track with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
On an afternoon where Chelsea announced the signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk during the first half, the Blues were looking to bounce back from back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Fulham.
That double setback has left Potter's side off the pace in the Premier League, the West Londoners starting the day in 10th position in the standings.
While that remains the case, Kai Havertz's second-half header has helped close the gap on some of the teams above them, including Fulham and Liverpool who have both lost this weekend.
Although the West Londoners were again not at their best versus their city neighbours, a clean sheet on Benoit Badiashile's debut will be regarded as a significant positive.
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Speaking after the game, Potter suggested that Chelsea were never likely to produce "sensational" football given their current predicament, instead being delighted on collecting three points.
The Englishman told BBC Sport: "Today we are happy for the three points. Overall we played quite well, they had their moments as well but today was about getting the victory - park it as three valuable points against a team that was pushing as well.
"We try to play well and I thought at times we did, you have to understand the context of the situation we are in so it isn't going to be sensational football all the time. The boys have worked hard."
Potter was naturally quizzed on the £88m acquisition of Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk, and he expects the winger to quickly become a crowd favourite.
He added: "He is a young player with exciting quality in the final third. He is very fast and direct and I think the crowd will like him."
Chelsea are next in action on January 21 when they square off against Liverpool at Anfield, the teams currently locked on the same points in the table.
Darren Plant
