Conor Gallagher urged Chelsea fans to stay positive after defeat at home to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Gallagher again wore the captain's armband in Reece James' absence on the day.

"It's really disappointing to lose the game," Gallagher told chelseafc.om post-match.

"We came into this one trying to win the game and given that we are struggling for points, we were desperate to win today.

"Obviously the red card doesn't help but we can't make any excuses. We're just really disappointed and we're determined to put it right for the next game."

He said of Malo Gusto's dismissal, "I didn't have a great view of the red card, if I'm being totally honest. It looked like he'd got the ball but the ref has reviewed it via VAR and decided it should be a red card, so we had to accept that and adapt.

"We did that but then we conceded a goal which made it very difficult to come back from and we are just really disappointed with how the result has played out.

"We have to stay positive, we will continue to work hard in training to try and improve our fortunes. I know the gaffer will be working us hard in training to get us to improve.

"That's something we know we need to do. We will stay positive and hopefully we can put it right with victory in the next game."