Chelsea fans have questioned the mentality of defender Wesley Fofana ahead of their crunch clash with Aston Villa after he raised the prospect of his side losing the game.
The Blues are currently sixth in the Premier League table – six points behind Villa, who are one of their biggest rivals in their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Should they beat Unai Emery’s side on Wednesday night, they will move to within three points of them and leapfrog Liverpool into fifth – which will almost certainly be enough to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.
But victory is not guaranteed – according to Fofana. The defender spoke to the club’s official website before the game, and admitted there is a chance he and his side will come up short.
‘It is a big game because we know if we win then we come back close to Aston Villa,’ Fofana, who cost Chelsea £70million four years ago, said. ‘But if we lose it’s not finished, because we have a lot of games after that.
‘But it’s a big game. Aston Villa is a good team and we will try to play good football, try to be aggressive, to press high and to win the game and take the three points.’
Fans have called into question his suggestion that his side could lose, suggesting the mentality should be directed to believing his side will be picking up three points at Villa Park.
One fan posted on X: ‘The thought of losing shouldn’t even be on the mind because it’s 99% over if we do.’
Another wrote: ‘Chelsea football club contemplating loss to ASTON VILLA in MARCH in a T4 battle. How the mighty have fallen.’
A third added: ‘This is a worrying mentality icl (I can’t lie). Why would any player think of “But if we lose”?’
Fofana will be hoping to return to the starting line-up after missing the defeat by Arsenal through suspension after he became the latest Blues player to be given their marching orders.
Pedro Neto was then sent off in that match, taking the Blues’ red card tally to nine for the season – more than double any other top flight team.
Manager Liam Rosenior, however, has vowed to put a stop to that, threatening his players with the axe if they cannot fix their discipline issues.
‘It needs to improve,’ he said in his pre-match press conference on Monday. ‘My job is to create a culture of accountability, where if you make a mistake it’s OK, you hold your hands up and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
‘But you have to hold your hands up to the original mistake. If I make a wrong team selection or I get something wrong, my job is to be accountable, and it’s the same for my players in that moment.’
