Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed how his senior players took charge to inspire their comeback against Fulham this week.

Trailing to Zoltan Gera's early goal, and booed off by their own supporters at the break, Chelsea recovered their poise with Ancelotti impressed by the role played by his senior players in sparking that response.

"My players showed they are a very good team in that game," he said. "That was an important moment for the team. I saw them [form a huddle] at the end of the game, and that was a good thing to have, but also in the dressing room at half-time. When a team hasn't played well, it's normal that they don't receive a clap, but a whistle [from the crowd].

"It can be a good motivation for them, even if they are top of the league. The fans come to Stamford Bridge to see their team play well, and they hadn't seen good football in that first half. So it was normal, good and right to have been booed off.

"But Didier, [John] Terry and [Frank] Lampard spoke to the other players in the dressing room at half-time and made sure there was a very good atmosphere in there. I spoke about what had happened in the first half, but I was not angry. I was not upset. I just spoke about changing the system.

"It was the players who created that atmosphere. And I saw a fantastic reaction out on the pitch after that. I have experience of football and I know it's very difficult to change a game in the way my players did against Fulham. For me, that was a surprise. That reaction. It was fantastic: the determination, the personality. They wanted to win that game so much."