Guus Hiddink reckons Chelsea’s players are showing the mentality needed to move them away from relegation danger after claiming a draw at Manchester United.
The Blues could find no way past Red Devils keeper David De Gea and relied on the woodwork as well as Thibaut Courtois to keep out Louis van Gaal’s United at the other end.
Hiddink is still waiting for his first victory since returning to the Chelsea dugout but has seen enough to give him hope of the club continuing to moving up the table.
They are now three points clear of the bottom three and the Dutchman thinks things will only getter better at Stamford Bridge.
He said: “The team is now showing ambition to get us out of this relegation zone. That’s what the team desperately wants. That’s what we want. The team shows ambition and we hope the players will soon be recovered. Then, we must go up.
Chelsea's draw with Manchester United in pictures:
“On one hand I’m happy with a point because we had a difficult game. On the other hand, we also had two big options to make it three points. We have to take into consideration that we are lacking some attacking players and that’s why we had to adapt a bit, but in general I’m happy with this point.”
Hiddink operated with Eden Hazard at centre forward due to injuries to Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao while Diego Costa served a one match suspension for the United trip.
He added: “I think Hazard did [well in that role] against Tottenham a few months ago. He is very mobile and he can run on the left side, where his preference might be, but he wa salso doing well in the centre. Our strikers are injured so we have to adapt.”
Costa will return to the side for Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace and Hiddink will be hoping his other forwards can join him in the squad for the Premier League showdown at Selhurst Park.
