Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo had no problem with his players steaming into eachother after defeat at West Bromwich Albion.

The loss heralded the first visible cracks in the Chelsea dressing room, with players said to have argued loudly and Di Matteo also thought to have been furious with their performance.

But the Italian "absolutely" welcomed the frank exchange, saying: "It's important that we communicate with each other, and the players express themselves. I've always encouraged that."

Crucially, there is no obvious sign of Di Matteo having lost the confidence of his players in the way that cost Andre Villas-Boas so dearly.

He added: "They need to have belief in themselves, and that's the most important aspect.

"We work together and, at the moment, we're all in it together and believe we have a good group, a good team, and are pulling together."