What Chelsea players did after Aston Villa that spoke volumes about Mauricio Pochettino future

Chelsea fought from behind against Aston Villa to claim a point in a thrilling Premier League clash on Saturday evening. Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher in the second half brought proceedings level after Marc Cucurella diverted a shot into his own goal with Morgan Rogers then doubling his side's lead.

Cole Palmer should have scored the winner but it looked as though his miss would not be rued when Axel Disasi headed home deep into added time, only for VAR and Craig Pawson to rule out the goal. Despite the disappointment of not claiming all three points, the performance of his squad in the second period certainly pleased Pochettino.

"We struggled a little bit to recover from Man City and Arsenal, who are doing well, they punished us so much," he said. "But today the team showed good character and good performance. If we analyse the game, we were the better side.

"I can say we deserved to win but I think it makes me very happy and pleased that we were able to perform against a team in a very good position, doing a fantastic season and to show that we can compete in this way." Following on from defeats without scoring against Man City and Arsenal, the Blues will certainly be aiming to take pride in the desire shown with the squad's reaction at full-time very telling.

The likes of Madueke and Benoit Badiashile remained furious at the decision that denied them a winner with Palmer also making his feelings known before being dragged away by a Chelsea coach. Other members of the squad however, celebrated the point gained with Gallagher and Moises Caicedo both roaring with emotion after the former's equaliser.

Regardless of the two celebrations being vastly different, what was clear is there is still fire in the belly of the Chelsea squad under Pochettino. Following on from a chaotic last few years, just some normality and consistency seems to be what they players want and therefore keeping Pochettino is not only the want, but also what is needed.

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Up next for Chelsea is a London derby at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening with Tottenham as the visitors. While slim, the Blues still have hope they can finish in a Europa League qualification spot with six points separating them and sixth-placed Manchester United.