Villas-Boas satisfied – but seeks improvement

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas believes his team’s 0-0 draw against Stoke City on Sunday was not a bad result for their title challenge.

Champions Manchester United recorded a victory in the English Premier League later in the day as other rivals – Liverpool and Arsenal – dropped points in the opening round of fixtures.

But Villas-Boas said he did not consider taking a point away from Britannia Stadium a bad result.

“You can never really be pleased with a point. Stoke is a difficult ground to play at away from home because of the results they had here last season at this ground,” he said.

“I think it was 10 wins and a couple of draws, so it means the quality and the number of points Stoke get at home.”

“For our title challenge, I think one point is still not bad. It’s not one of the greatest starts to the Premier League of course, but we’re happy enough that we raised the level of the game in the second half.”

Chelsea had three penalty claims waved away by referee Mark Halsey, none of which were clear-cut.

Meanwhile, Stoke City manager Tony Pulis felt his team performed well and he backed Chelsea to finish in the top three this campaign.

“I think we gave as good as we got in the first half. It was quite an open game, without many clear-cut chances. Second half they got a foothold in the game,” he said.

“It was there for everybody to see the quality that they’ve got and the depth that they’ve got, when you see (Nicolas) Anelka and (Didier) Drogba coming off the bench, and (Yossi) Benayoun.”

“They’ve got (Branislav) Ivanovic and people like that on the bench. They’ve got the squad to do well and will be in the top three again this year.”

Chelsea host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, while Stoke City will meet Norwich City after their Europa League playoff clash against Swiss side Thun on Thursday.