Rafa Benitez hailed the character of Chelsea's players after their 2-2 draw at FA Cup opponents Manchester United.

He insisted United had had everything in their favour.

Asked if United had suffered from tiredness after their Champions League defeat by Real Madrid last week, he said: "I thought you were joking, they play on Tuesday, we play in Romania on Thursday.

"They had everything in their favour, they are playing at home, they played on Tuesday, we are coming from Romania and had to travel again so we did a great game and I'm really pleased with my players."

Benitez admitted bringing on Eden Hazard and John Obi Mikel had changed the match in Chelsea's favour - Eden Hazard responded almost immediately with a brilliant goal.

He said: "We knew that we had to change something and we knew Hazard is a player with quality who can make a difference and he had fresh legs as well.

"I asked Frank to give 100 per cent until then and he did. You have to manage the squad.

"We saw the character and the reaction that I was expecting so until the end of the season we will be fighting."