Mauricio Pochettino praised the character of his Chelsea side in Wednesday's last-gasp FA Cup win over Leeds, as he again vented frustrations about Gary Neville's description of his side as “blue billion-pound bottle-jobs”.
Conor Gallagher's 90th-minute strike earned Chelsea a 3-2 win over the Championship club and set up another home tie against Leicester in the quarter-final.
Gallagher's goal ensured the Blues avoided a second spell of extra-time in four days after they were beaten by Virgil van Dijk's 118th-minute winner for Liverpool in Sunday's dispiriting Carabao Cup Final defeat, which led to Neville's memorable one-liner.
"I think we needed this result, it wasn't a great performance but of course credit to Leeds, a team full of confidence," Pochettino said.
"A very, very strong team, they're doing fantastic in the Championship, them and Leicester at the top of the table. It was tough for us, when you concede after a few minutes.
"But the character we showed is a thing to learn from the team and in the end we're so happy. We're going to extra-time and we scored. We're in the quarter-final, that's our objective. Always tough when you lose a final in extra-time, and 72 [hours] or less to recover that was difficult.
The effort was massive again so [I] say thank you to the players."
"I think @GNev2 was just frustrated because Liverpool won another title!" 😀
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) February 28, 2024
A better day at the office for Mauricio Pochettino#ITVFootball | @EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/GrM7LfSyw6
Leeds took the lead through Mateo Joseph's first goal for the club but Chelsea led at the interval after well-taken finishes by Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk, before Joseph deservedly equalised for the visitors in the second-half.
Pochettino acknowledged that Neville's comment has quickly stuck to his side but reiterated that it was unfair, and said only by winning games and showing bravery could Chelsea prove the former Manchester United defender wrong.
“It's like Gary, my friend, what you did you do? His opinion now is like always around and around, come on," the Argentine said.
"We can't agree about that. With all my love to Gary, it's not fair to use these type of words about a team that is so brave and a club that always fights for big things.
"What can we do? Now only with this type of performance we can only show that we are brave and can win games. Nothing to say, only to keep moving.
"It's not important for the team, not important for us, because we know how we are and how we behave.
"And why we lost the game against Liverpool is nothing to do with this. It's different things. You need to accept all opinions.
"But that's not for us. We know we're brave, we're working really hard. If people want to go around and around and around with this comment, for us it's not an important comment. It's sorry, you were wrong but nothing to say. Respect your opinion and move on."
