We owe Potter a win over Dortmund – Loftus Cheek
Chelsea's winless streak came to an end on Saturday when they defeated Leeds United, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek wants to continue repaying Graham Potter
Chelsea owe Graham Potter a win in their crucial Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund, according to Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Chelsea ended a three-game losing streak by defeating Leeds United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Prior to that match, the Blues had only won one of their previous 11 games, with Loftus-Cheek filling in at right-wing-back in the absence of Reece James.
Now, Potter’s team trail Dortmund 1-0 going into the second leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday, but with home advantage, Chelsea hopes to repay their head coach’s efforts.
“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.”
Chelsea is tenth in the Premier League, 11 points behind fourth-place Tottenham.
“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.”
