After another evening of thrilling attacking play combined with a couple of late nervy moments, Cesar Azpilicueta has called on his Chelsea team-mates to shore up defensively to ensure that they finish in the Premier League's top four.
Frank Lampard's team dominated the 2-1 win against Aston Villa but they still conceded a number of dangerous late chances, which has been an all too common occurrence throughout the season.
While they have been scoring freely, aside from Saturday's 1-0 loss against West Ham, Chelsea have kept only four clean sheets in all competitions. They have let in 21 in the league and conceded eight in five Champions League games.
Azpilicueta believes added solidity will be the key to their campaign.
"It is something we have to improve because we are conceding a lot of goals," he said. "We make it more difficult for us because if we kept a clean sheet and went in 1-0 at half-time then the second half could be more open and we would have had everything in front of us.
"And against West Ham, if we don’t concede the goal, I’m sure we could push and maybe score one goal and win. Against Crystal Palace, even if it was not our best game, 2-0 was enough.
"It is an area where we need to improve because the solidity defensively is key in the season and I’m sure we will keep working hard to get that. Offensively, we are creating a lot of chances, scoring a lot of goals.
"We are creating more. I’m sure we will get that killer instinct better through the season. It is something we have to improve."
At the same time the Spanish defender is not surprised by how well Chelsea have performed overall. They sit fourth in the Premier League, six points clear of Wolves in fifth, and merely need to win at home to Lille in the Champions League next Tuesday to reach the knockout stages.
The way they bounced back from the defeat to West Ham was also added proof of the team's strong character, the captain said.
"No because of the way we have been working," Azpilicueta said when asked if the team have been exceeding expectations.
"We have a lot of young players that make their debuts in the Premier League and Champions League but the commitment, the desire and work ethic with the manager and the staff is something we have been working on.
"It is true at the beginning we didn’t have good results but since then we have got better, we’ve had a run of victories.
"The last three games we didn’t win but through the season we cannot expect to go every game win, win, win, win. Sometimes you have to suffer – like last Saturday we had a bad game.
"The big teams, they react as soon as possible. We did it with a good game, a good connection from the fans.
"They deserve this as well because when you lay a London derby and you lose at home, it is not easy for everyone. They need this as well, the same as us. We fought in this way and it was good. Obviously we enjoyed it at the end."
