"It's an opportunity for us" - Lucas on Chelsea

Lucas Moura knows we have to quickly banish the disappointment of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United from our minds and make sure we are ready for Tuesday’s visit of Chelsea.

Despite dominating against the Magpies with no less than 23 attempts on goal, we endured heartbreak in stoppage time as the visitors scored a late, late equaliser from the spot to steal a point from the game.

Lucas – our goalscorer in the encounter - felt we produced our best performance of the season so far against the Tyneside outfit which, for him, made the draw all the more frustrating. Yet, he knows, with three more games coming in the next six days, we must quickly move on and focus on the challenges ahead.

That starts on Tuesday night as Chelsea make the trip across the capital to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for our Carabao Cup fourth round tie (7.45pm kick-off) and our Brazilian forward sees the clash as a great opportunity for the squad to test itself.

“It was unlucky with the result because we played very well – perhaps the best performance from us this season," our number 27 reflected on the draw with Steve Bruce’s side. "But, in the last five minutes, we concede that goal. That’s football, that’s the Premier League. When you have the opportunity to kill the game, you need to do that.

“We don’t have time to cry or complain about that though. We have another important game again tomorrow against a strong opponent and it’s an opportunity to test our squad in a competition that we want to win. It’s a big game against Chelsea. It’s the type of game that every player wants to be a part of and wants to win.

"We need to be ready for what is going to be a tough week, but I think we are strong enough to get a good result because we have a great squad. We need everyone at 100 per cent with the right mentality, ready to play and ready to give their all. That’s what matters.”