Graham Potter had seen his side go behind in the first half, after failing to make the most of some early chances, when former Blues winger Willian saw his effort deflected in off Trevoh Chalobah after we had given the ball away at the back.

Chelsea came out for the second half determined to turn things around, though, quickly levelling when Kalidou Koulibaly turned in the rebound after Mason Mount had hit the post with a free-kick, and putting Fulham on the back foot.

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However, a high challenge from debutant Joao Felix resulted in him being sent off by the referee and, despite the Blues continuing to threaten with 10 men in the final 30 minutes, the home side took advantage when neither Kepa Arrizabalaga nor Trevoh Chalobah managed to deal with a cross from deep, taking the lead and holding it until the end.

‘It’s really frustrating, it’s incredibly challenging,' said Potter after the game. 'We’re disappointed to lose tonight, I thought it was a relatively even game in the first half, we had a couple of good chances. I think with the basics we can do a little better – in terms of our defending, in terms of our football actions.

‘But at the same time we get back into the game and then the red card feels like where we’re at, at the moment, in terms of the things that can happen to us. Obviously we’d lost Denis just beforehand as well and just adjusted with Jorgi, and then Joao, who was having a fantastic impact on the game, you could see his quality, to lose him and for three matches is just really disappointing.

‘Probably rather than anything special from the opponent it was our own actions where we could do better and that’s what we have to improve.

'I never like to speak about individuals when we lose. Their second goal itself was a frustrating one from our point of view. I don’t think they were putting us under too much pressure even though they had an extra man. So it felt like a bit of a soft goal to concede and that’s something we have to do better with.’

Joao Felix's debut of two halves

'Joao is a young player, he’s a top player, you can see his quality and what he brought to the game. I don’t think there was any malice in the challenge at all. It was a little bit high of course and then the referee has got a decision to make. He’ll learn from it.

'I don’t think it was an emotional one from Joao, it didn’t feel that way to me. It was just a miscontrol maybe and then just a football action that can happen in the speed of the Premier League and a game of football at this level.

'There was no malice, he didn’t want to go and hurt anybody, he didn’t lose his head, it was just what it was. Sometimes these things happen and they work against you and you have to suffer and believe me we are suffering at the moment.'

Sharing the fans' frustration

'Of course I can understand that they’re frustrated, we’ve lost. That’s normal, I made sure I went over and clapped them because you appreciate their support.

'It’s not easy. We’re suffering, they’re suffering, so we feel for them and feel their disappointment and I think it’s important that we stick together and we try to get through this tough period because it really is a tough period.'

Zakaria injury update

‘The early assessment is that it’s at the top of his quad. He just felt it a bit when he cleared the ball, I think it was. But in terms of the extent of it, it’s too early to say.’