Interim
Chelsea head coach Guus Hiddink criticised his side's failure not to see out
their game against West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday
night.
The champions appeared to be heading towards back-to-back Premier League
wins for the first time this campaign after Gareth McAuley's 74th-minute own
goal had put them 2-1 ahead against the Baggies.
However, with just four minutes remaining, midfielder James McClean fired in
an equaliser and Chelsea had drawn for a sixth time this season to remain
down in 14th place in the table.
"I cannot blame them on their attitude or commitment, which I think is
rather normal, but we have to finish it off a little bit better, that is
what we did not do," Hiddink said after the match.
Hiddink, though, refused to criticise striker Diego Costa after the Spain
international was once again involved in a series of heated disputes
throughout the match with a number of West Brom players.
In particular, Costa was incensed Chelsea were not awarded a late penalty
after he was upended in the box, an incident Hiddink did not see clearly
from the dugout.
"I have to see that to give a fair judgment, but he is a temperamental
player and that is what I like," he said. "As long as he is in the limit,
which he was, then there was no big problem.
"Both defenders, they challenged him and he challenged them, so there is no
big issue."
However, despite Chelsea dropping yet more points in their bid to try and
finish in the top four of the Premier League - they are now 12 points behind
Tottenham Hotspur in fourth - Hiddink was keen to focus on the positives
after the full-time whistle.
"First of all, we have seen in the last two games some youngsters coming in
and it is nice to see in the circumstances that we can now give the
youngsters a chance," he said. "It is not always easy, but they are there.
"And the team is fully committed, but it was a disappointment that we did
not get the win."
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