Our head coach had seen his side go down 4-0 at Manchester City. Conceding twice in the first half-hour made a tough FA Cup third-round tie much more difficult and it was 3-0 by the break, with Riyad Mahrez scoring his second goal of the game, a second penalty for City, close to the end to complete the scoring.

Potter acknowledged that the way the game went early on left it hard for his players to give a good account of themselves against the league champions.

‘We were second best to a very, very good side,’ he said. ‘Obviously, we're not in a great moment ourselves and even though it was a cagey first 20 minutes, we couldn't attack the back line well enough. Man City do really well in terms of stopping you doing that and at the same time we struggled.

‘It was a fantastic first goal in terms of the free-kick strike, then a strange penalty, and then you are caught in a position where it is 2-0 and you have to chase the ball against Manchester City. You’re caught between trying to commit more men and not get opened up.

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‘So the first half was painful and it was tough for us all. Second half, we had to respond and there were some positives there in terms of the young players, they gave everything and showed their quality, but in the end we're disappointed because we've gone out the competition.’

Understanding frustration

Potter noted that the results in the recent period are not positive, even if some have been against the strongest teams, and he added:

‘You can make excuses and look for reasons or you can say it isn't good enough, and both of those answers are correct. So we have to keep improving, stick together because clearly we're suffering as a football club and it's not nice at all. But that's where we are at the moment.

‘We can't do anything apart from do our jobs better and work harder and you understand the supporters’ frustration, that's understandable and we respect that.’

Potter rejected suggestions that in addition to being hampered by a long injury list, there is a problem with the application of some players he is able to field.

‘Man City is probably the worst opponent you can play when things aren't going very well because they can make you look like you're not running or you're not trying because their positional structure is brilliant,’ he explained. 'They use the full width of the pitch and they keep the ball and that makes it difficult to put any pressure on them.

‘I'm working with the players and I don't get any sense of any people with poor attitudes. Everyone wants to try and do better and there is support in the dressing room.’

Chelsea injury news

The coach finished with an update on three players not fit for this game, Christian Pulisic, Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

‘Christian just opened up his knee in the game the other day so we're still analysing it. It's going to be weeks I would say. Raheem just had an action in the first minute that game, a back heel that was a bit strange and he felt something in his hamstring. So again we are analysing that. Aubameyang had a tight back yesterday so was unable to travel.’