Chelsea boss Graham Potter faces discomfort 48 hours after Fulham loss as sack pressure mounts

Graham Potter has claimed he has 'the toughest job in football' to start his next game with a £100m+ new player in his squad. The Chelsea manager also asked for no mercy ahead of yet another defeat which increases the pressure on his head.

That said, it's hard not to feel a little sorry for the Chelsea manager. He was forced to watch helplessly as Joao Felix utterly destroyed all interest in his loan signing with a reckless red-carded assault after less than an hour.

The Portuguese - sold by Benfica for £113m less than three years ago - was a man signed for the here and now. One player to resolve an injury crisis that currently spans nine players and shows little sign of easing in the short term.

However, the 23-year-old walked off the pitch to let his penalty kill succumb to another miserable one-game loss they needed to win. Now he will miss Chelsea's next three games - Crystal Palace, Liverpool and the return against Fulham.

No quarterbacks will be awarded in any of these, but neither was the case in Felix's midfield challenge on Kenny Tete. Referee David Coote had no choice but to issue chorus marching orders of "What a waste of money!" sounded by local supporters.

Additional frustration for Chelsea is that the Atletico Madrid loanee looked so sharp up until this point. The work permit meeting was successfully approved in the morning, he was straight into the starting lineup and kicked Lewis Hall for a chance he should have buried in the opening minutes.

A few poor finishes could be attributed to a bit of jet lag and weariness, but Felix was creating chances in a Chelsea side that otherwise looked a lot like one who had only won one game in his last eight Premier League outings. . However, Potter's free-to-air chats with four senior players on Tuesday had clearly not filtered through the entire locker room.

And with just a bit of exuberance, Fulham found it too easy to bring the game to Chelsea. They signaled their intention in the 23rd minute when Bobby De Cordova-Reid was left free to kick the ball against the crossbar.

Just two minutes later, Hall lost possession near his own goal line, Trevoh Chalobah failed to clear the cross and former Chelsea player Willian had as much time as he needed wished to choose its place - and found it thanks to another diversion. the unfortunate Chalobah.

Chelsea made small inroads in the rest of the first half but immediately at the start of the second Mason Mount's direct shot hit the post and the rebound was bundled on the line by Kalidou Koulibaly. Once they had their extra man, however, Fulham showed no sympathy for a side determined to bring about their own downfall.

A deep cross was completely misjudged by Kepa Arrizabalaga and Carlos Vinicius didn't hesitate to sneak in to head the ball into the net to claim a well-deserved winner. Potter made a quadruple substitution, laying down his cards in hopes of staving off a miracle that died when Kai Havertz hit a one-on-one chance on Leno.

Fulham fans were convinced that Potter's cards were exactly what he was going to receive in the morning. An awkward 48 hours await Potter to find out if he's still in football's toughest job...or not.