Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti insists defeat to Sunderland was not down to a weakened line-up.
Sunderland were buoyed by the absences of John Terry, Alex, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien.
That meant a defensive pairing of Branislav Ivanovic and Paulo Ferreira, but Ancelotti did not put the defeat down to personnel, firstly explaining his decision to pick the Portuguese over youngster Jeffrey Bruma in the middle.
"I had more confidence in Ferreira for this game, because I saw him in the training sessions," he said.
"I was surprised because it was a strange result but the result is normal, we didn't play well,' he conceded. 'We didn't play a good game, Sunderland played a fantastic game with fighting spirit, more mentality and we didn't show this kind of mentality."
