Liam Rosenior has insisted that he will pick players who show improvement with their discipline in his starting lineups for Chelsea moving forward.
The Blues collected their 10th red card of the season on Sunday - a number that includes former head coach Enzo Maresca’s dismissal against Liverpool - when Pedro Neto was sent off against Arsenal in a 2-1 defeat in the Premier League.
Neto’s two quick-fire yellow cards, one for dissent and the second for a challenge on Gabriel Martinelli, sparked further criticism of Chelsea’s dire disciplinary record after Wesley Fofana was also dismissed against Burnley last weekend.
Nine players have now been sent off this term already for Chelsea, the joint-most dismissals that a Premier League team has ever tallied across all competitions in a single campaign - with more than two months of the season remaining.
Read more: Every Chelsea red card this season ranked from unlucky to unforgivable
Rosenior admitted after the loss to Arsenal that Chelsea have a “deep-lying” problem with dissent and picking up unnecessary cards.
Asked on Monday what his players had been telling him about their discipline issue, Rosenior said: “It needs to improve.”
Speaking about how they will turn that record around, he said: “I think the first thing is: you pick players who are showing that improvement.
“I can't afford to go through a season every two or three games with a red card. It's just not possible. I need to see improvement in that.
“I need to adjust my team selection based on who is showing those capabilities. Pedro [Neto] has apologised to the group. We miss him for Wednesday [against Aston Villa].”
Rosenior added: “I just need to see an improvement in the behaviour now. It's not just Pedro. We've had bookings, people speaking about dissent. We've had needless bookings in terms of fouls.
“If we are to improve and get to where we want to be, we have to make a conscious step now to make sure it doesn't happen again.”
