Rafa: Now we’re world class!

LAMP IGNITES ... ... Frank hits the Blues' comeback winner

RAFA BENITEZ reckons turning Japanese saved Chelsea’s season from plummeting into oblivion.

When Benitez took over as interim manager last month, the journey around the world for the World Club Championship in Yokohama was the last thing he needed.

But their time in the land of the Rising Sun looks like being the catalyst for a title push this season.

Yesterday’s dogged win at Everton was their seventh win in eight matches in all competitions — the only defeat coming against Brazilian aces Corinthians in the World Club Final.

The Stamford Bridge boss said: “The trip to Japan was important for us because we were together for a long time.

“We had at least two or three training sessions where we could work on new things and you can see it working out.

“We are still making some mistakes that we have to manage, but the team is much better.

“What impresses me is the attitude of the players. They are keen to learn and train.

“I had a discussion with the staff today and we are really pleased with the way they work and train and behave each day — and that is important for the future.

“This was a great win for us. The team showed the commitment, passion and quality against a good team. We made mistakes at the beginning but the reaction was really good.

“I didn’t fear the worst when they took the lead. We knew Everton would be tough but I had confidence in my players.

“We put Ramires on the right side against Leighton Baines and he gave us a great game, too.”

Chelsea trailed to Steven Pienaar’s goal after 63 seconds at Goodison Park but goals in either half from Frank Lampard gave them a fourth straight league win.

They now trail second-placed Manchester City by four points and are still 11 behind Manchester United — but they do have a game in hand on their North West rivals.

Before a visit to City on February 24, they have a clutch of winnable matches, with Arsenal the only big gun on the list, who they play at home next month.

Benitez refused to get carried away with title talk and added: “We have a game in hand but we still have to win it. Our idea is to approach the competition thinking about one game at a time.

“We are not watching the table too much. We are just thinking about the next game and the next three points we will be trying to win.

“We will see where we are after some more games.”

Chelsea are set to be without Petr Cech for Wednesday’s game against QPR after the keeper was forced off at half-time.

Benitez said: “Petr felt something in his adductor muscle and we didn’t want to take the risk.

“We will have to do a scan and see what it says.”

Everton felt they deserved more than losing for only the second time in 17 matches, but they were rocked by a spate of injuries.

Boss David Moyes said: “We’re not disappointed with the way we’ve played because we played really well.

“We’ve run the European champions really close but we didn’t quite have enough in the end.

“We couldn’t have been more stretched squad-wise for this game.

“Although we gave Chelsea a run for their money, I am disappointed we didn’t take something from the game.

“I’m gutted we haven’t won because I thought our performance was enough to do that — but 2012 has been a good year for us.

“There’s nothing we can look back on over the second half of last season and the first half of this season and say that we’ve done too much wrong.

“We were limited a bit with what we had and how we were going to play because we’d lost Darron Gibson and Phil Neville and not got Marouane Felliaini because of suspension.

“But it wasn’t anyone else’s fault. It was our fault.

“But in the end it would be wrong to talk about that because the performance was so good and the game was an exciting game from start to finish.”

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