Gary Cahill insists Chelsea’s title bid will not be blown off course by their 2-0 loss at London rivals Tottenham.
Dele Alli scored a header in each half as Spurs thwarted Chelsea’s ambitions of setting a league record of 14 consecutive wins in the same season.
But England centre-back Cahill is already keen for Antonio Conte’s squad to get the result out of their system, starting with Sunday’s FA Cup third-round match against Peterborough United before they resume Premier League duties with a trip to Leicester City and a remaining five-point advantage at the summit.
Asked whether the loss to Spurs stung, Cahill told Sky Sports:
“Now [it does] because it’s raw, but we’ve got strong personalities in that dressing room. One loss in 14 games is not going to affect us one bit.
“We’ve got the cup game to prepare for and then we go again in the league – dust this one off and go again.”
Cahill felt his team-mates fell short of the impeccable standards they have set over recent months and were duly punished by a ruthless Tottenham performance.
“We’re not robots but at the same time we’re disappointed. I thought we could have gone to that next level,” he said.
“I felt like we weren’t quite as sharp, we weren’t quite as quick as we have been – a few misplaced passed, a few heavy touches.
“We were a little bit short of the levels that we’ve set this season. You can’t be short at places like this. Credit to them, they did well and got the result.
“We’re disappointed with that but it’s after a run that’s been fantastic. It’s one game. It won’t affect us mentally.”
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