It has been a patchy start to 2018 for Chelsea and that was again illustrated by the nervous nature of their narrow 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Palace were defensively shambolic throughout the first half and that allowed the Blues to go into what turned out to be an unassailable two-goal lead.

Roy Hodgson managed to rouse his players at half-time and Patrick van Aanholt's late strike was the least they deserved for a performance that could have seen them leave Stamford Bridge with a share of the spoils.

Olivier Giroud got the nod to start from Antonio Conte but while he failed to score, he gave an insight into his thoughts to the club's official website about his form.

Chelsea fans reacted as the Frenchman - valued at £18m by Transfermarkt - continued his fairly slow start to his Stamford Bridge career it would appear that they still have faith in him at this early stage.

We've taken a closer look at the reaction to Giroud's comments as he looks for better luck in yet another match against opponents in claret and blue - Barcelona - on Wednesday night at the Nou Camp.

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