Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Chelsea players were affected in the first half against Fulham on Saturday by something that happened before the match.

Chelsea secured their ninth Premier League win of the season courtesy of Cole Palmer’s penalty,, and Pochettino has offered some reasoning for a below-par opening 45 minutes.

The Argentinian has had to deal with plenty of issues since taking over Chelsea in the summer and explained something happened before the weekend clash at Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino was in an honest mood after the match when he suggested his Chelsea full-back Malo Gusto was’maybe’ lucky to avoid being sent off in the match and continued his approach when analysing his side’s performance.

‘Well,,,, of course,,,, the first half wasn’t the first half that we thought or planned. Something happened before the game, but I’m not going to explain,’ said Pochettino.

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Chelsea players were affected in the first half against Fulham by a pre-match issue

Chelsea claimed their ninth Premier League win of the season as they leapfrogged Manchesterchester United in the table

‘But I think that affected the team a little bit [in the first half].

‘But I think we started the second half really, really well. I think we played really good football. For 30 minutes,, we played really, really well,, and we should score another goal—or one or two—and kill the game.

But when the game is open like this and you do not kill the game, always in the last few minutes we concede a few actions, set-pieces, wide free-kicks, corners, and they have good potential in all these situations.

‘We defended well though and I think it was good for us to suffer a little bit at the end, but I think this type of game helps us grow and builds confidence in the way that we are working.’

Pochettino refused to further elaborate on what pre-match incident had ‘affected’ his players

Cole Palmer’s penalty was enough to earn Chelsea victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday

Chelsea have momentarily leapfrogged Manchester United in the Premier League standings up to eighth spot, with Erik ten Hag’s side hosting Tottenham on Sunday.

The Blues boast a young squad and have struggled with indifferent form this season, but have shown recent signs of improvement.Pochettino later apologised for his comment on any pre-match issue, adding, ‘No, no, no, nothing. I think I was… no, nothing. Nothing, nothing, sorry.’

The Blues are next in action when they host Middlesbrough in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.