Claudio said, "We're in good condition because to play against this Newcastle team, I think you have to be in very good condition to play face-to-face with them.

"I'm very pleased with our performance. I'm disappointed with the result, but that's okay, that's football. We played well - maybe we deserved the minimum of a draw."

"Both teams deserved to win. Always the matches between Chelsea and Newcastle are very, very interesting."

"We were a little unlucky because they shot at goal only once and won the match; we shot a lot, but Given was unbeatable.

"But I'm very pleased with our performance. We played a good match after the Blackburn match, and Chelsea is alive.

"We want to achieve a top-four place, but it's not easy. Two or three months ago, everybody said to me Chelsea can win the league. I said 'No, there are two or three teams better than us, we can fight for fourth'."