Reece James was one of the Chelsea players to stop and speak to the media following our defeat to Aston Villa and there was a clear emotion emanating from the skipper – one of frustration.
It was a word he brought up on a number of occasions to sum up the feeling inside the Chelsea dressing room after the Blues let slip a first-half lead to Villa, with the hosts winning 2-1 to take all three points thanks to a brace from Marco Asensio.
That came after Enzo Fernandez had tapped home a Pedro Neto centre to give us the perfect start in the Midlands, with James left frustrated he wasn’t reflecting on an away victory to the gathered press inside the Villa Park tunnel.
‘It’s really disappointing to leave with nothing,’ James stated from the media area at Villa Park. ‘Especially when you consider had the lead at half-time, having started the game so well.
‘In the second half, it was a different game. That’s what is frustrating I think. We worked hard all week on analysing Villa and where we could exploit them and I think we created many chances in the first half. In the second half, it was a totally different game.
‘We’re very disappointed because I don’t think we deserved to lose the game. We created more than enough chances to add to Pedro’s opener and we’ve conceded two goals from our own collective mistakes as a team.’
The skipper was deployed in a new role for the Blues at Villa Park, starting in central midfield alongside Moises Caicedo and impressing with his work both on and off the ball.
It’s a position that isn’t alien to the skipper, although he’s normally in the backline, and James said he’s happy to play wherever Maresca needs him.
‘Yes. it was a completely different position to what I’m used to but that doesn’t worry me, it’s somewhere I have experience playing in so it wasn’t anything new to me,’ added Reece.
‘Wherever the manager needs me, I’ll play there and give my all to help the team.’
Helping the team to three points on Tuesday night is at the forefront of the defender’s mind now, with the opportunity to return to winning ways against Southampton under the lights at Stamford Bridge quickly approaching.
‘We have a big game on Tuesday, in front of our own fans, and now it’s time for us to stick together and come through this patch,’ the skipper voiced.
‘If we put in a performance on Tuesday like we did in the first half, then I’m sure we can take all three points.’