Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo says his side must look at Tuesday’s 2-1 Uefa Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk as a “one-off”.
The European champions were rocked after three minutes when Alex Teixeira put the Ukrainians ahead, before Fernandinho added a second on 52 minutes. The Blues pulled one back through Oscar on 88 minutes but it was too little too late.
“We have to look at this performance as a one-off. The commitment from our players was great,” Di Matteo said.
“We could have done better as a team but we were alright. We have a good squad and we’ll have to utilise it in the next match.
“We must win our two Champions League home games and I’m confident it will be a different game for Shakhtar. We’re strong at home as well.”
Di Matteo insisted he always expected the going would be tough for Chelsea in a group consisting of Shakhtar, Juventus and Nordsjaelland.
“They are a very strong team and they showed that again tonight. It’s a difficult group we are in and the Champions League is always very competitive,” he said.
“You look at the other result in our group and it shows just how competitive it is.”