IAN Maatsen believes last night’s 1-0 Carabao Cup victory over Brighton was a much needed one and hopes it can act as a springboard for Chelsea.
The Blues have endured a less than ideal start to life under new boss Mauricio Pochettino, with just one league victory so far and without a goal in September until Nicolas Jackson struck early in the second half to sink the Seagulls.
That secured a fourth round date with Blackburn but the real focus is now on climbing the Premier League table.
Chelsea head to Fulham on Monday for a big local derby and then go on to face the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City and Newcastle between now and the end of November.
And all of a sudden the mood within the camp suddenly feels a lot better after that Brighton cup success.
Maatsen said: “The dressing room was very good, positive and now we just have to keep going.
“Hopefully we can keep this form going and improve on the pitch where we need to improve and we will be fine.
“Obviously they are different games and we have to prepare differently for them.
“When it is time to play those teams, we are ready and will have to discuss the tactics.
“We are a good team. We just need to believe in ourselves – that’s all we can do and perform well.”
There was plenty of attention on Chelsea going into the Brighton tie, perhaps inevitably because of the way the season has gone so far.
But Maatsen doesn’t seem to mind the scrutiny which comes for playing such a big name club as the Blues.
“It is good to have the pressure,” the Dutchman said.
“You need to stay calm. We need to trust in ourselves and our team-mates.
“We work hard on the training pitch and we just need to show it here.
“It will come in time but we are ready and we will fight for each other.
“That is what we all need in this game.”
For Maatsan it is now all about making the Brighton success a starting point for a run which will hopefully propel the Blues onwards and upwards.
“We needed that,” he admitted.
“I’m happy with a win today and we can build from this one.
“Hopefully everyone stays positive and keep this run going.
“It was a good game which we won. We still need to improve on some bits.
“Hopefully we can do that and now we focus again on the Premier League. Hopefully we can keep this performance (going) on Monday (v Fulham).”
Maatsan also made a point of praising scorer Jackson for his decisive strike which finally ended Chelsea’s September goal drought.
He added: “I’m very happy for him. He works hard in training and also here. He deserves the goal and hopefully he can continue that way.”
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