Ancelotti challenges Chelsea to show mental strength

Carlo Ancelotti admitted Chelsea need to show more mental strength to cope with the pressure of leading the Premier League after his side’s latest nervy 2-1 win over Portsmouth.

Ancelotti’s team were only 11 minutes away from a fifth successive game without a win at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as they laboured to break down the division’s bottom club.

But the west Londoners finally moved three points ahead of second placed Manchester United thanks to Frank Lampard’s penalty after Portsmouth’s Frederic Piquionne had cancelled out Nicolas Anelka’s first half opener.

Lampard’s first goal since October, in his 300th league appearance for Chelsea, went some to glossing over another unconvincing display from the leaders.

While they dominated possession for long spells, Chelsea lacked a cutting edge without the injured Didier Drogba – a worrying sign given that the Ivory Coast striker will be missing in January on African Nations Cup duty.

Once again, Ancelotti’s men showed a few nerves at the back as well. After conceding 10 goals in their previous four matches, Ancelotti brought in Alex for Ricardo Carvalho but his back-four still looked far from impregnable.

Ancelotti knows Chelsea’s morale has been rocked by their recent struggles and, although he was satisfied that they ground out a result, the Italian expects more confident displays from his team in the coming weeks.

“We did poorly for 15 minutes in the second half and lost composure. We had a lack of confidence for a while,” Ancelotti said.

“After they equalised we were afraid to draw. We lost our idea of how to play.

“We put fresh players on the pitch and had a good reaction at the end. We deserved to win, that is the most important thing. To win after four games without victory was the first aim.

“We can do better because we have a lot of players with strong personalities. Communication in this case is very important.

“I think the defence played very well. We conceded only one shot on goal in the first half. (Petr) Cech didn’t have many saves to make.”

Ancelotti should have no worries about Lampard’s courage as the title race hots up. After missing a penalty that cost his side a point at Manchester City two weeks ago, the England midfielder had no hesitation in taking the 79th minute spot-kick that sunk Portsmouth.

“I have trust in Frank because he takes penalties very well,” Ancelotti said. “He missed against Man City but he is the best penalty taker for us. It was not easy because there was a lot of pressure on that penalty but he did very well.”

Ancelotti, who hopes to have Drogba back from a back injury at West Ham on Sunday, believes the way bottom of the table Portsmouth pressured his side into mistakes shows that no team can expect to romp to the title this season.

“I always said that it is a competitive championship. We have to pay attention in every game, every team can be difficult,” he added.

While Ancelotti focuses on the top of the table, Pompey boss Avram Grant – making his first return to the Bridge since being sacked in 2008 – could take heart from his team’s battling display.

“We are the team at the bottom playing against the team at the top and I don’t think you saw much difference,” Grant said.

“We played against a team who are strong at home. We closed them and they didn’t create many chances. We had two good chances, then they scored with a penalty from nowhere. The result is disappointing but the performance was good.

“I think we attacked very intelligently and we caused them problems. If we were a bit calmer with the pass we could have scored more than one goal.”