Loftus-Cheek: Chelsea owe Potter victory against Dortmund

Ruben Loftus-Cheek says Chelsea owe Graham Potter a victory in their crunch Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea snapped a three-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The Blues had won only one game in their previous 11 before that match, in which Loftus-Cheek filled in at right-wing-back in the absence of Reece James.

Now, Potter’s team trail Dortmund 1-0 heading into the second leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday, but with home advantage on their side, Chelsea want to repay their head coach’s hard work.

“We definitely owe it to the manager. He is obviously a fantastic manager, nobody can argue against that after what he has done with Brighton and other things,” Loftus-Cheek told reporters.

“It is up to us as well. We have massive respect for the manager, the way he has been sitting in front of the media with us in this poor form, and he has stuck up for us players.

“So we owe it to the manager to perform as best we can on the pitch and turn things around.”

Pleased for the players and our supporters! #CheLee pic.twitter.com/97UIXZBNyX

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 4, 2023

Chelsea are 10th in the Premier League, 11 points back from Tottenham in fourth place.

“A team like Chelsea, we can’t accept mediocrity. We understand we have been mediocre in this recent run, and we are not just accepting it,” Loftus-Cheek continued.

“It might look like that from the outside, but it’s not the case. We are hurting from the losses and the draws, because it is not in us as Chelsea players, and we are fighting our hardest to turn it around.

“It is not nice to hear all the criticism coming our way at Chelsea, to the manager, to the players. We had the poor run, so of course you are going to get that.

“We have obviously had a poor run of form, and we needed to turn it around. We may look back at this [Leeds] win as a turning point in weeks to come. You never know.

“We have got this win, and then if we win against Dortmund and then keep winning… we have the quality and the players and the manager to do that.

“We don’t expect to stay in that poor run of form, but we have to stick together and come through it.”