Graham Potter Reacts To Losing Three Consecutive Premier League Games Following Defeat At Newcastle.

Chelsea failed to put an end to the recent poor run of results, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat away to an high-flying Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.

It was three defeats on the bounce for the Blues in all competitions and it is first since 2002, and have now gone five games without a win for the first time since 2012.

Following a goalless scoreline at half-time, the game at St James Park finally came to life in the 67th minute when an in-form Miguel Almiron embarked on a brilliant run to find Joe Willock who fired past Edouard Mendy to finally break the deadlock.

Chelsea failed to find a reply as it ended 1-0 with the Magpies securing all three points which sends them to third position in the Premier League table.

Potter's side only had seven touches in the opposition box in this match, their fewest in a Premier League game since January against Man City (7).

Newcastle have now won five consecutive Premier League games for the first time since 2014, while they are unbeaten in 10 games for the first time since 2011.

The defeat has left Chelsea eighth in the table heading into the World Cup break, and eight points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.

Graham Potter becomes the first Chelsea manager to lose three consecutive Premier League games since Jose Mourinho in November 2015 who incidentally lost his job the following month.

The Blues boss blamed "unforced errors" for their latest downfall, and also blamed fatigue and a tough schedule for Chelsea’s poor run of form.

“It’s not nice to not get results,” Potter said at the post match press conference.

"First half there were too many unforced errors. When we had the ball we lacked that last bit.

"Newcastle play with huge intensity, they're in a confident moment. You can see the difference between the two teams in terms of the schedules.

"We’ve had a lot of games, a few injuries to key players, destabilised us, today again you see they’re missing. Just had a period that’s been incredibly challenging.

"In terms of running power and intensity - that was a challenge for us. It was a relatively tight game, to be honest, but Newcastle put you under pressure.

"It was a tough match. We had to make changes because they were overrunning us a bit. We added an extra body in midfield. 

"We tried, but in the end we lacked the quality to get the goal we needed. We need to do more. Eddie is doing brilliantly. It's not nice for us, we have to lick our wounds. We'll use the break to recharge."

Like the rest of the Premier League, Chelsea will now have a break of more than a month while the World Cup is held in Qatar. Their first game back will be a visit from Bournemouth the day after Boxing Day.