Chelsea performances ‘nowhere near the expected standard’ – Calum McFarlane

Calum McFarlane said “everyone” at Chelsea knows recent performances have been “nowhere near the expected standard”, as they look to end a run of six consecutive Premier League defeats.

Chelsea are looking to end that streak when they visit Liverpool on Saturday. McFarlane confirmed that they will be without Jesse Derry and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, both of whom sustained head injuries against Forest. Derry, 18, who was making his Premier League debut, was taken to hospital as a precaution after being stretchered off. McFarlane confirmed that “all early signs are really positive”.

Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto, who missed the Forest game, are “carrying knocks” and unlikely to be available to face Liverpool, leaving McFarlane light on attacking options with Estevao and Jamie Gittens also out.

The Forest defeat meant that Chelsea are on their worst run since 1993 and ninth in the table, just one point above Sunderland in 12th.

“We want to turn it around. We know that the standards that this club has set, we aren’t meeting them at this moment,” interim head coach McFarlane said. “The only thing we can control is how we behave and act every single day, how hard we work to turn that level of performance around.”

Joao Pedro’s consolation goal in 3-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Monday was the first Chelsea have scored in the league since March 4.

“Everyone at the club knows that the recent performances have been nowhere near the expected standard, and we’re going to do everything we can to improve it,” McFarlane said.

Asked about whether the performance against Forest, in which Chelsea conceded twice in the opening fifteen minutes, related to mentality, McFarlane said: “We definitely have to show a stronger mentality to recover after that early setback. One-nil down three minutes into the game, you can recover that situation, especially with the talent we have on the pitch.”

Chelsea are boosted by the returns of Levi Colwill and Reece James, both of whom were in the matchday squad against Forest. Colwill played his first minutes of the season after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.