Thibaut Courtois believes Chelsea’s win over Tottenham proves the club should never be written off in the title race.
Goalkeeper Courtois admits the opening-day defeat to Burnley last weekend gave Antonio Conte’s squad a wake-up call and inspired them to beat their London rivals 2-1 in the first-ever Premier League game to be held at Wembley.
Chelsea’s preparation for the derby had been dominated by talk that they were heading for a repeat of the club’s disastrous 2015-16 campaign, while coach Conte had been installed as the early favourite to be fired.
But the club bounced back from adversity last season to win the title, and Courtois feels the Blues retain that quality.
In Pictures | Tottenham vs Chelsea | 20/08/2017
Asked if Chelsea had made a point to those who were already writing them off, the 25-year-old Belgium international said: "Yes, I think so. We are doing very well.
"We worked very hard in pre-season, it was just a bit unfortunate that we had suspended and injured players, some players left, so it was not easy for us.
"But this victory for us is good to show as a team we are working well and in the next weeks we can continue in this way.
"We are working hard in training and this win shows that the work pays off. That’s a pleasure for us and for the manager."
Chelsea beat Maurico Pochettino’s side even though captain Gary Cahill and midfielder Cesc Fabregas were missing through suspension. Eden Hazard is still working his way back to fitness after fracturing his right ankle and debutant Tiemoue Bakayoko, who has just recovered from a knee injury, only started due to a lack of numbers.
Chelsea hope to sign four more players before the transfer window closes on Thursday week and Courtois feels the champions will be hard to stop once they have added to their squad and are at full strength.
"We played with some different players against Tottenham than we had when we won the League in May," Courtois said. "Eden still has to come back, Bakayoko played his first game, so physically he is not at this best but it was a very good game to start for him.
"We will try to work hard and maybe after the international break we will know what our full squad is. We can build on that, play an amazing year and win trophies by the end of the season."
The quality of defending and workrate yesterday was in complete contrast to the display at home to Burnley, when they were 3-0 down by half-time and lost on the opening day of the season for the first time since 1998.
Courtois said: "Maybe we needed as a group a little wake-up call to say, ‘Look, we need to give 150 per cent this year and not 100 per cent’. That’s what we did against Tottenham.
"I think we did very well. You see that in the end. We can win those difficult games. I remember two years ago we had to go to Manchester City (after drawing 2-2 against Swansea in the opening game) and lost there, and it was a difficult start for us.
"Now, this victory is good. Next we play at home against Everton, who are doing well. We don’t have the easiest start but this victory is good for the confidence, to continue the hard work we are doing in training."
Courtois, however, appeared to suggest he is no closer to agreeing a new contract.
His deal at Stamford Bridge expires in 2019, but the goalkeeper is looking to double his £100,000‑a‑week salary to match David De Gea’s earnings at Manchester United.
An opening offer from Chelsea at the end of last season fell short and it was agreed that talks would resume last month.
But when asked about the current state of negotiations, Courtois said: "Those things they [Chelsea] can handle with my agent, so if you want to speak about that you should speak to him."