Enzo Maresca was full pf praise for his Chelsea side following their 2-1 comeback win against West Ham United on Monday night.
The victory saw the Blues leapfrogged Manchester City into fourth spot in the Premier League standings.
Chelsea fell behind to Jarrod Bowen’s 42rd-minute strike and struggled to find their fluency before substitute Pedro Neto levelled 12 minutes after entering the action.
The Blues struck a second goal on 74 minutes when Cole Palmer’s shot was deflected into his own net by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and head coach Maresca was impressed by his side’s spirited recovery.
“We are there and hopefully we can be there until the end. Playing this kind of game in February, where we are still there is an important statement,” Maresca said.
“I was very happy, especially because I consider this game the toughest game mentally.
“In this moment, when teams come here and sit back waiting for our mistake, there is no space to attack, we need to be patient.
“First half we tried but there was no space, 11 players, Bowen marking [Moises] Caicedo. They just allowed us to play with Tosin [Adarabioyo] with the ball.
“They tried to frustrate us so we needed to be mentally strong. Even with that in the first half we had four or five clear chances. Then we conceded a goal from our mistake.”
It was the fifth time Chelsea had made an error leading to a goal in their last six matches, and 10th in the Premier League this season – only Southampton and Aston Villa, with 17 and 11 respectively, have made more.
But Maresca was delighted at the manner in which his team responded, winning a top-flight match at Stamford Bridge in which they’ve trailed at half time for the first time since they beat Southampton 3-1 in December 2013.
“We needed to be mentally strong,” he added. “My message at half-time was don’t change anything, continue in the same way because [West Ham] cannot be so intense for 90 minutes, it’s impossible.
“We completely deserved to win the game. Teams come here and try to frustrate us, just waiting for our mistake.”
