Roberto Di Matteo believes Chelsea were handed a timely wake-up call by Aston Villa ahead of their key UEFA Champions League match.
Chelsea boss knows side came close to throwing away Villa win
Roberto Di Matteo believes Chelsea were handed a timely wake-up call by Aston Villa ahead of their key UEFA Champions League match against Benfica on Wednesday.
The west London side seemed to be cruising to victory on Saturday after strikes from Daniel Sturridge and Branislav Ivanovic.
But the interim boss could only look on in horror as Villa hit back late on with two goals in 10 minutes to get them back on level terms and set up a nervy finish.
Another from Ivanovic and a late fourth from Fernando Torres eventually sealed the win but acted as a timely reminder to Di Matteo.
He knows that a clean sheet will see them through in Europe as they are 1-0 up from the first leg in Portugal, but the Italian says they cannot relax for one minute if they are to stay in the competition.
No complacency
"We won't switch off," said Di Matteo. "Only 50 per cent has been done and the qualification is over two games.
"We have put ourselves in a good position but Benfica away from home are a very strong side and they are capable of scoring as well so there will be no complacency from our side at all.
"I think we've been fighting very good in the last three weeks, we have shown that on several occasions.
"The reaction after they drew (level) was fantastic from the team because we could have capitulated, but we went the other way and had this strong desire to win the game.
"It's great, when you win games it's fantastic, everybody pulling in the right direction - it's good."
Not important
The win was another reminder of how well the club have done under Di Matteo since the Italian took over from Andre Villas-Boas.
And by masterminding six wins from the eight games he has been in charge there is growing support from the fans for him to be handed the job on a permanent basis, but the Italian remains tight-lipped on his future.
"Whether I stay is not important," he added. "What's important is that on Wednesday we qualify for the next round of the Champions League.
"We won and got three points and we've put some pressure on, got some points back on Arsenal."
