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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Kai Havertz admits to months of Chelsea struggles amid concerning form

Kai Havertz has admitted he was not himself for "weeks and months" after ending his two-month goal drought on Saturday afternoon.

The Chelsea forward, 23, scored his first Premier League goal since January in his team's 3-1 win against Leicester at the King Power. It was only his 18th Premier League goal since joining Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in a £72million deal in the summer of 2020, a record which has left him open to criticism.

The Blues have also struggled in recent weeks under English manager Graham Potter, winning just four Premier League games since the World Cup in Qatar to slip 11 points behind Tottenham in fourth with a game in hand. Yet Saturday afternoon's victory means Potter's side have now won three on the bounce in all competitions.

Havertz is hoping Chelsea have regained their mojo but admitted the period has been difficult for him personally. "Football is our life," said Havertz. "If you lose a game, of course you don’t have an easy life. I think everyone at home, especially my girlfriend, has had some tough weeks as well the last weeks and months."

As quoted by the Evening Standard, Havertz added, "I think she is happy now again and so am I. If you have a bad day at work... you... I won’t say the word now but you don’t feel good. Football is a game where we have a lot of pressure on our shoulders.

Kai Havertz scored for Chelsea on Saturday afternoon (Getty Images)

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"We want to make the fans happy and if you don’t make them happy then you don’t have a good time. Winning is always the best, we won again so we can enjoy some days."

Although Havertz's record at Chelsea is modest, he has achieved success at Stamford Bridge. The Germany international has won the Club World Cup, European Super Cup and Champions League - scoring the winning goal in the latter competition's 2021 final.

The Champions League is Chelsea's last hope of winning silverware this season. Havertz is confident Potter's side can go all the way in Europe after knocking Borussia Dortmund out in the last 16. The quarter-final draw takes place in Switzerland on Friday.

Havertz continued, "To be honest, we look game-by-game. The goal at Chelsea is always to win something. We can get a lot of points. We have to keep up the pressure on the other teams and look game-by-game. The Champions League is also a big tournament for us so we have something to play for."

In terms of the Premier League, Chelsea have 12 fixtures remaining to save their campaign. It will be difficult for them to break into the top four, as they still need to play Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle and leaders Arsenal.

Chelsea's next Premier League game is against Everton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. A strong end to the season in the Premier League and Champions League could restore confidence in Potter's tenure, although there is still a long way to go yet.

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