Trevoh Chalobah defends team-mates after Liam Rosenior's angry rant at Chelsea flops

Liam Rosenior blasted his Chelsea players following Tuesday night's 3-0 Premier League loss at Brighton, while Trevoh Chalobah spoke out on the team's dire situation

Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah has disagreed with manager Liam Rosenior following the 3-0 thrashing at Brighton.

The Blues' Premier League woes deepened with a fifth consecutive defeat, Ferdi Kadioglu putting the Seagulls ahead inside just three minutes. Chelsea have now lost seven of their last eight matches across all competitions, leaving them facing an enormous challenge to secure Champions League football next season.

Chelsea's dismal run of form leaves them eight points adrift of fifth-placed Liverpool. The Reds could extend that to 11 points, with four games remaining, should they win their game in hand against Crystal Palace this Saturday.

Rosenior was visibly incensed following the defeat on the south coast, accusing his players of failing to give their all and branding their display "indefensible".

He and Chalobah were at odds over what had gone wrong, as the atmosphere turned toxic, with the travelling supporters directing foul-mouthed chants at their own manager.

FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

Rosenior told Sky Sports in a furious post-match interview: "By far, by far [that was the worst performance of the lot].

"That was unacceptable in every aspect of the game. Unacceptable in attitude. I keep coming out and defending the players... that was indefensible, that performance tonight.

"The manner of the goals we conceded, the amount of duels that we lost, the lack of intensity in the team. Something has to change drastically right here, right now.

"I can't keep coming out here defending some of the things that we're seeing. The general attitude, spirit, was lacking.

"The determination [was there] from three or four of the starting eleven. That's nowhere near enough for this club.

"I can't come out and lie. I'll tell the truth. That was an unacceptable performance in every area.

"That doesn't represent anything that I want to see, and I won't ever see it again. The performance in terms of professionalism wasn't there. Some of the things I witnessed today, I never, ever want to ever see again.

"If you're playing for this club, at this elite football club, or any football club, to be even accused of throwing the towel in is unacceptable. Yeah, that's all I'm going to say.

"I'm hurting, I feel numb. That doesn't represent me. That doesn't represent the football club in anyway. That has to change.

"Chelsea represents fight and spirit and determination. That was lacking in every department this evening. But that team we put out today was far better than its engagement in the game.

"Every game between now and the end of the season is a huge game, and it needs to look like that in the way we play."

No side has covered less distance per Premier League fixture this season than Chelsea, averaging just 106.1km per game. This stands in stark contrast to the pace-setters in that metric, Manchester City, who are clocking up an average of 115.5km per match this campaign.

In stark contrast to Rosenior's assessment, Chalobah believed Chelsea gave everything they had at the Amex Stadium.

The defender said after his 43rd appearance of the season: "We gave our all. Just not the better side. I don't know. We obviously had a game plan.

"We tried to execute it and... yeah. We tried our best. We worked on it throughout the week and obviously we got beat today. We've just got to go again and we can't dwell on these moments.

"We've got to look forward to the next game. As players we have to be accountable for the performance.

"We know how much the fans have been behind us and we know they're disappointed, we haven't been winning at the moment. We have to stick together and pull through. I think personally the boys were running their socks off.

"You can see in the changing room everyone's tired. It's nothing to do with effort.

"We gave our all. We just got beat today. We ran today. You can say the stats this, the stats, I can see the boys are tired in that room.

"We just have to pick ourselves up and we've got a semi-final to come. It's a massive game at Wembley.

"Us being in another semi-final, we have to use that as a positive and approach the game with a strong mentality and try and pick ourselves up from this defeat. We have to stay positive.

"Negativity is not going to help us. No matter what happens in life, we have to keep going forward and picking ourselves up."

Chelsea will be eager to end their run of defeats when they take on Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley on Sunday.

After that, the Blues have four Premier League fixtures remaining, with home clashes against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham sandwiching away trips to Liverpool and Sunderland.