Source: SKY_Sports
Delap - Defeat tough to take
Rory Delap insists he would rather go down 4-0 than lose in the manner that Stoke had to endure against Chelsea at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
The midfielder declared that the 2-1 defeat, after Abdoulaye Faye had given the hosts a 32nd minute lead, was even more painful than the last time they met the Blues in January.
Then, late goals from Juliano Belletti and Frank Lampard cancelled out an earlier opener from Delap but the Republic of Ireland international feels the Potters played better this time round.
A first-half injury time thunderbolt from Didier Drogba and a 94th minute Florent Malouda strike ensured Chelsea maintained their 100 per cent start to the season and the 33-year-old stated that no matter how sickening the defeat feels they must now look forward to Bolton next weekend.
"It was sickening then, but I thought we played better today," he told The Sentinel.
"We were defending, but we felt comfortable, to be honest. You can defend for a long time and feel under pressure - our game at Liverpool is an example of that. But we felt comfortable here.
"We worked all week to play how we did so to lose it how we did was devastating. I would rather lose 4-0 than get beaten like that. It is going to be a long week now.
"But we have to pick ourselves up and look to Bolton."
Delap knows that next Saturday's trip to the Reebok is a chance for Stoke to get back to winning ways although he admits it is hard to get over the Chelsea game.
"It will take a couple of days to get this out of our system, but we have been in this position before, got ourselves out of it and got a result," he added.
"We aren't going to play teams off the park and play the beautiful game, but we will stand up to everyone. We aren't going to give anyone an easy game.
"Fair play to Chelsea because they kept going, but I don't think they deserved that."
