Graham Potter has suggested that he will only take the positives from Chelsea's 2-0 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League on Tuesday night.
Chelsea went into the game having lost their last three fixtures in the top flight, resulting in the club sitting nine points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur ahead of kickoff.
However, helped by a number of players returning from injury, the Blues cruised to victory over the Cherries, posting their first win against that particular opponent in four attempts.
Kai Havertz got on the end of a Raheem Sterling cross to put Chelsea ahead before a fine 20-yard strike from Mason Mount saw the home side double their advantage by the 24th minute.
Chelsea had further chances to score throughout the 90 minutes, while Bournemouth posed a threat on occasions, but the West Londoners were fully deserving of the three points.
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Speaking after the match, Potter was particularly impressed with how his players performed in the first 45 minutes, even though they could not maintain their display for the entire game.
The Englishman told BBC Sport: "Credit to the players. You're never sure how it'll go with the break we had.
"The first-half performance was good. The attitude was fantastic. The players tried their best. It was a deserved win. We had to hold on. Bournemouth made it competitive. It's a step forward for us as a team.
"We weren't in the best of moments. You have to use breaks as best you can. Evaluate and reassess and get injured players back. We used it as best we could even with players coming back at different times."
The only negative of the evening was another injury to Reece James, who was making his first appearance since suffering a knee injury in October.
James was withdrawn shortly after the restart having looked frustrated when receiving treatment, but he was able to walk off the pitch unaided before making his way down the tunnel.
Darren Plant
