Graham Potter Reacts To Chelsea Disappointing Goalless Draw Against West London Neighbors Fulham.

Despite spending over £600m on new players this season, and £322m in the just closed January transfer window, Chelsea could not beat their local rivals Fulham on Friday night and remain stuck in the middle of the Premier League table.

The Blues were unable to break down a stubborn Marco Silva's Fulham side and had to settle for a 0-0 draw despite playing most of their new signings.

£106.8m club and British record signing Enzo Fernandez impresses on his Chelsea debut, but £88.5m Mykhailo Mudryk was taken off at half-time on his first Stamford Bridge appearance; while wantaway forward Hakim Ziyech was also included in the starting line-up after his proposed deadline-day move to Paris collapsed due to the club submitting wrong documents three times to PSG.

Fulham had ended a near-17 year wait for a win in this west London derby at Craven Cottage following a 2-1 win on January 12, but they were couldn't complete a first-ever league double over their neighbors, as they added another point to their impressive tally on their return to the top-flight.

Chelsea came close, with Kai Havertz hitting a post in the first half and Conor Gallagher and David Datro Fofana agonisingly unable to convert late on to get the much needed win in front of their expectant fans at Stamford Bridge.

The result leaves Chelsea in ninth place with 30 points after 21 matches, nine points behind the top four despite playing a game more.

Chelsea boss, Graham Potter, speaking after the game, hailed Fulham’s defensive organization;

“Disappointment because we didn’t win, of course. I think we could all sense the excitement and the positivity. There was definitely that in the team... Potter said.

“You have to credit Fulham, they are a defensively well-organised unit. We did quite well at times and at times you could see the lack of connection with a team that has a few guys coming back from injury or being integrated into the team.

“In football teams, you sometimes need that connection and understanding to sharpen up the decisions. We just need to gel and improve the team.”

Potter also revealed why new signing Mykhailo Mudryk was subbed off after somewhat underwhelming first half against Fulham as he had been suffering from a cold.

"He's had a heavy cold this week," Potter said. "He was feeling heavy legged at half-time and we didn't want to take a chance with him, he is still in a process where we are building up his minutes because of the break he's been on in Ukraine."

Mudryk had zero shots, created zero chances and completed zero take-ons on his Stamford Bridge debut. 

Chelsea fans will be hoping for much more improvement in the coming weeks and months, as Potter would look to quick fix his squad and have an immediate impact on the pitch before their next game away to West Ham on Saturday, February 11.