Sports Cesar Azpilicueta issues rallying cry for Chelsea to secure Champions League qualification

Cesar Azpilicueta has urged his Chelsea team-mates to finish the job of securing Champions League qualification after managing to get themselves within touching distance against the odds.

Chelsea were considered outsiders to finish in the top four going into the season with new boss Frank Lampard taking over a club who were banned from the transfer market and had just lost their best player Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.

They head into their final eight games, though, having tightened their grip on fourth spot after returning from football's suspension with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.

Captain Azpilicueta, who set up Chelsea's goals for Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud, said: 'We have to be in the top four after the 38 games. That's when we have to be in the top four.

'Maybe people didn't expect us to be where we are but if we are there it is because we deserve to be there. Also, we have missed a lot of chances to be even higher.

'We lost a very important player, of course, but we had a challenge, we started in pre-season and we've worked hard. We're in a good position.

'Now it's time to finish the job. It's in our hands. It's up to us to take it and finish where we want to finish.'

Chelsea took full advantage of closest rivals Leicester and Manchester United dropping points on their returns to action by beating Villa. Leicester are now just three points above Chelsea, who face Manchester City on Thursday.

Azpilicueta said: 'The main focus is ourselves. We have it in our hands and we depend on us. But when you see teams dropping points that means the gap can be bigger and we have to take our chances. We are three points behind Leicester now.

'We still have a lot of games in front of us and they will come very quick, every three or four days and so we have to be ready for them.'

'We have to go for the maximum. It's not in our hands to finish third but we have to do the maximum we can to be as high as possible. The next step is Thursday. We cannot think further than this.

'We just want the team to recover well and be ready again for Thursday. It's another opportunity to get three points. We go game by game and we see where we finish. But, you know, we are Chelsea and we want to finish as high as possible.'