Cesar Azpilicueta: 'Tottenham Hotspur defeat tough to take'

Cesar Azpilicueta has admitted that Chelsea's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur "is really tough to take", but insists that his side's top-four aspirations are not over just yet.

The Blues suffered their first home loss against Tottenham in the Premier League era, going down 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in Sunday afternoon's clash.

Despite Chelsea being eight points adrift of fourth-placed Spurs with just seven matches left to play, however, Azpilicueta is not yet giving up hope of booking a place in next season's Champions League.

"Qualifying for the Champions League looks further for us than it did before the game. But there are still lots of points to play for," he told Sky Sports News. "It's really tough to take.

"After the first half we didn't deserve to be 1-1. But this is football. In the second half we didn't have the reaction we should have."

Chelsea last lost a league match that they took the lead in at Stamford Bridge a year ago today against Crystal Palace.