Chelsea captain John Terry has conceded that it has been a tough week but wants the players to focus on getting a positive result against Sunderland.
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The Premier League champions sacked Jose Mourinho during the week, and confirmed that Guus Hiddink would be returning to the club on an interim basis for the remainder of the season, as reported by Sky Sports.
Having lost nine of their 16 games so far this year, Mourinho’s tenure came to an end as the unrest continued to grow at Stamford Bridge as the players were certainly part of the problem by underperforming while the Portuguese tactician was unable to consistently improve the situation.
In turn, club owner Roman Abramovich opted to make a change, and will now hope that the arrival of Hiddink can inspire the squad to better performances as they look to close the 14-point gap that currently exists between themselves and fourth-placed Manchester United.
Nevertheless, while Terry conceded that it had been a difficult few days as the players adjusted to not having Mourinho around them, the former England international was adamant that the group had let the 52-year-old down and needed to respond starting against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Hiddink is expected to watch the game from the stands this weekend, with coaches Steve Holland and Eddie Newton in charge of the team.
The Dutchman revealed that he was “excited to return” to the club, as reported by BBC Sport, and will hope to build on his previous spell during which he guided Chelsea to a triumph in the FA Cup.
However, it hasn’t been a successful period in his career more recently, as disappointing spells with Turkey, Anzhi and the Netherlands have seen him face significant criticism.
It doesn’t appear to have put Abramovich off though, and so Hiddink will hope to have the players on board and behind him starting from next week.
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