Ranieri blames it on Cup Final blues

Adrian Curtis13 April 2012

Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri blamed his side's 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa on their failure to win the FA Cup.

The Italian claimed his team were still reeling from the previous weekend's reversal in Cardiff.

Ranieri's side looked sorry for themselves and Villa took all three points, with goals from Peter Crouch, Darius Vassell and Dion Dublin earning a place in this summer's InterToto Cup.

Ranieri admitted: "Our season finished at Cardiff. We tried to win this game but Villa played the better football. They played with more concentration. We didn't play very badly but Villa played very well."

The defeat allowed Leeds, 1-0 winners over Middlesbrough, to move above Chelsea into fifth place, costing the Stamford Bridge club £440,000 in Premiership cash. However, Ranieri has already set his sights on the target for next season.

He said: "We are building a good squad but we must keep improving. We have to make sure we get into the top four next season."

Eidur Gudjohnson scored Chelsea's goal from the penalty spot but it was nothing more than token resistance as the club's season fizzled out.

Meanwhile, Villa manager Graham Taylor believes striker Vassell will get a chance to shine for England in the World Cup finals, even though Emile Heskey and Michael Owen are likely to start as coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's favourite double act up front.

Taylor said: "He'll get an opportunity and he may even start in one of the games. I wouldn't be surprised by that at all.

"The World Cup is the pinnacle of any player's career and Darius must be ready to take any chance that comes his way. The strength of the squad depends on the players you've got on the substitutes' bench.

"He might only get one chance in his career, and he has got to grab it."

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