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Cleverley: We knew it would be tough

Cape Town - Aston Villa midfielder Tom Cleverley insists his side won't dwell on the negatives after a drubbing at the hands of Chelsea.

Chelsea v Aston Villa

Oscar's early opener had threatened to open the floodgates and Mourinho's men never looked troubled as they saw out this one-sided contest with ease.

Villa knew their good start to their season would be tested by the leaders and, having lost convincingly against Arsenal last time out, they were never at the races in west London.

Paul Lambert opted to pack his Villa midfield and then look to break with pace at every opportunity.

"We're disappointed with the result but there are positives to take." said Cleverley on the club's website.

"You come to Stamford Bridge and expect a difficult afternoon.

"They are a very good side at home. They will be one of the top sides in Europe this year. So we knew what to expect.

"I think our performance improved from last weekend against Arsenal, which is a positive. I thought we were calm in possession, which is another positive.

"You don't want to concede early like we did but after that we knuckled down and kept them in front of us, kept the ball well when we had it and created one or two of our own opportunities.

"The goals came at the wrong times for us.

"But there were positives so let's not let our heads drop too much from this and prepare for next weekend."

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