AFP – Mauricio Pochettino called for the Chelsea fans to trust his players after a 3-2 win over Newcastle early Tuesday propelled the Blues back into contention for European football next season.
Pochettino had faced open revolt from among his own support during last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Brentford.
The former Tottenham boss has suffered a difficult first season at Stamford Bridge, which included losing the League Cup final to a severely depleted Liverpool last month. Chelsea remain 11th in the Premier League table, but closed to within four points of West Ham in seventh, which should at least secure a place in the Europa Conference League.
“We need to stick together,” said Pochettino, whose side face Leicester in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday. “Until the end we are going to fight to try to give our fans the best things. It helped a little bit today we scored from the beginning, the fans were good and behind us. They need to trust in us.”
Newcastle’s 12th defeat of the season leaves the Magpies just one point better off than Chelsea in 10th.
The pressure is also rising on Eddie Howe as Saudi-backed Newcastle have failed to build on finishing fourth last season to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
