Guus Hiddink Writes Off Chelsea's Top Four Chances

Guus Hiddink wrote off Chelsea's chances of reaching the top four following the 1-1 draw with Stoke. The Blues were leading though Bertrand Traore's strike and five minutes from picking up a fourth straight win to maintain their late surge towards the Champions League spots, however Mame Biram Diouf's equaliser earned Stoke a draw, and left Hiddink admitting fourth place looks beyond them now.

After the match Hiddink said “That's difficult, almost impossible, especially when other teams are knocking on the door as well. Yet in December we were near the relegation zone, so get to the middle of the table and now have a beautiful March and April to look forward to with the Champions League and the FA Cup would be nice”.

Hiddink also insisted referee Mark Clattenburg missed a clear penalty for his side in the second half as Marc Muniesa went unpunished after his challenge from behind knocked Oscar down in the area at Stamford Bridge. Hiddink, who could not hide his frustration at dropping two points, says Clattenburg clearly got the decision wrong.  He said “I think we started the first half a little bit sloppy, but after 10 or 15 minutes we got into the game. This is a decent team to play in Stoke.  I think rather decisive, although they had some chances, was the not-given penalty on Oscar in the second half.  If you see it on the television it is a clear penalty. If it is outside the box all the referees will give it, but inside the referees have fear to do so.  I think that was decisive. Then they got some courage out of that, threatened us and got the equaliser. It is of course frustrating, they pushed on in the late part of the game, and it is frustrating of course”.