Graham Potter explains Mason Mount snub after Chelsea’s defeat to Aston Villa

Chelsea suffered another stumble in their Premier League campaign as goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn sealed a win for Unai Emery’s side at Stamford Bridge.

The defeat leaves Chelsea 11 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, who could be overtaken by both Newcastle United and Brighton if they win their games in hand.

Mount, meanwhile, was forced to withdraw from England’s squad during the international break due to a groin injury but was named on the bench for Chelsea’s clash with Villa.

But despite Chelsea chasing for an equaliser, Potter opted not to call upon Mount and instead brought on N’Golo Kante, Noni Madueke, Conor Gallagher and Christian Pulisic.

When asked why Mount was not introduced in the second half, Potter said: ‘With Mason I just felt we were there, we were there in the game,

‘We made some attacking subs and wanted to see how it all landed.

‘Mason’s coming back, he only had a couple of days training.’

Potter also confirmed that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Denis Zakaria, Hakim Ziyech and David Datro Fofana were all left out of the squad for selection reasons.

Meanwhile, Potter also believes Chelsea ‘did a lot well’ in their defeat to Villa, which is their 10th loss in the Premier League this term.

‘If you look at the stats of the game, apart from the most important stat, there’s a lot there that says we did a lot well but ultimately the two boxes are the most important area and that’s where we’ve come up short,’ said the Chelsea manager.

‘First half I thought we had a couple of opportunities, we won it back high and created a one-on-one situation pretty early in the game.

‘Obviously the goal is a blow for us. We need to do better than that. Of course, it’s difficult then, you’re 1-0 down at home.

‘I thought the team gave everything, I thought the intention of the team was there. You could tell by the amount of times we got in their box, the shots we had, there was a positive intent but the scoreline is painful for us.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.