Rosenior praises revitalised Chelsea’s ‘extreme mental toughness’

Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior praised his players’ mental fortitude for achieving a string of wins since he took over last month, with their only setbacks being two losses to Arsenal in the League Cup semi-finals.

Rosenior’s side came from behind to end January with back-to-back 3-2 wins over Napoli in the Champions League group stage and West Ham United in the Premier League.

The also beat bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 away on Saturday for a fourth straight win in the English top flight.

Chelsea, who host Leeds United on Tuesday, are a point below fourth-placed Manchester United in the Premier League, and have reached the Champions League round of 16.

“I don’t speak about what happened before me. Our two defeats came against who many people say are the best team in Europe (Arsenal) and we didn’t have full player availability in both of those games,” Rosenior told reporters on Monday.

Arsenal lead the Premier League and topped the Champions League after the first stage of that competition.

“Players are showing me extreme mental toughness, extreme quality, to come back from two goals down against West Ham, to come back against Napoli. I’m not questioning their mental toughness at all,” added Rosenior.

He said Chelsea, who had only a month between winning the Club World Cup in July and the start of the Premier League, have done well to rotate and rest players in a packed schedule.

“It’s difficult. We’ve rotated a lot, which we need to do. Bear in mind the players’ long-term schedule, they had no pre-season and they’ve been magnificent,” the manager said.

“You have to be really well prepared tactically to give the players the right plans and solutions.”

Rosenior added that midfielder Andrey Santos, who was taken off after suffering from a late tackle at Wolves, is fit for Tuesday’s game. Defender Reece James, who missed the last two games with a knock, is unwell but may return for the match.

The manager said Leeds, who beat visitors Chelsea 3-1 in December, are going to be difficult to overcome despite them being six points above the relegation zone.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game again. I’m not here to talk in the past or what’s happened before I was here. I’m focused on the game tomorrow,” he added.