Matic defiant despite Chelsea’s disappointing season

Nemanja Matic has predicted Chelsea will regain a “winning mentality” next season after a disappointing defence of their Premier League title.

The Blues will finish no higher than their current position of ninth and could end up as low as 13th if results over the next few days go against them.

Whatever happens, it will be their lowest finish in 20 years and the last time Chelsea lost 12 league matches in a single season was in 1997-98.

But Matic told the club’s website he is confident he and the team will show improvement under incoming boss Antonio Conte.

He said: “This season was not good for us, but I believe in our quality, I believe in myself and I know what I can do.

“We will see what we can do next year. Every season is a different story.

“Last season we were champions but this season we were not even close. We will see in the future what we can do.

“Everything can change in a couple of months. We had the winning mentality, we were champions, and then in a couple of months we lost that. In a couple of months, everything can be back. We’ll see.”