Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has revealed that he asked manager Antonio Conte for a break in an effort to help his teammates rediscover their form.
The Blues, who suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats against Bournemouth and Watford, had a week's break before defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-0 on Monday night.
Chelsea skipper Cahill told the Evening Standard that he felt that a number of days off in between the fixtures helped to remove the "bad feelings" around the club.
"I mentioned the idea of taking more days off to the coach," the 32-year-old said. "I just felt that there were a lot of bad feelings around the place. It was important for everyone mentally to get away.
"Sometimes it's unhealthy to be in the same environment all of the time, especially when there is a lot of negativity around for whatever reason. This was the first time I could remember this season that we had a free week in between games.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to mentally freshen our minds up and physically freshen the bodies up. Everyone knows we do a lot of physical training on top of the games we are playing."
Chelsea resume their busy schedule with a tie against Hull City in the FA Cup on Friday evening.
Jonny Whitfield
