Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has praised the work-rate of his Chelsea players as they secured a hard-earned 3-2 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup fifth round.
Having lost to Liverpool after extra time in the EFL Cup final on Sunday, the Blues had just over 72 hours to recover for another important fixture in their season.
With injuries to numerous first-team players, Pochettino felt in a position where he could only make five alterations for the encounter with the in-form Championship outfit.
Chelsea made life difficult for themselves by conceding an early goal to Mateo Joseph, but the West Londoners were ahead by half time after strikes from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Leeds matched their Premier League opponents in the second half as Pochettino looked to manage the workload of his players, and their equaliser through a Joseph header was deserved.
Nevertheless, with the clock just before the 90th minute, Conor Gallagher coolly slotted home from just inside the penalty area to move Chelsea through to the quarter-finals, where they will host Leicester City.
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Speaking at a press conference after the game, Pochettino acknowledged the effort that his players had to make to overcome a team that had not lost since the the turn of the year.
The Argentine said, as quoted by football.london: "I think we needed this result. It wasn't a great performance. It's a team that is full of confidence, very, very, very strong team.
"They are doing fantastic in the Championship. It was tough for us. When you concede after a few minutes. But the character we showed after this situation, it's a thing to learn for the team.
"We are so happy in the end, we avoided extra-time and are in the quarter-final. It's always tough, when you lose a final on Sunday with 72 hours or less to recover, it's difficult. I want to say thank you to the players because they made a fantastic effort."
Chelsea now have less than 72 hours to recover for their next outing in the Premier League, a short trip to city rivals Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.
Pochettino's side will begin the game in 11th position in the standings, four points adrift of seventh-placed Brighton & Hove Albion but with a game in hand.
Darren Plant
