Mauricio Pochettino believes Chelsea’s players are “so happy” despite the prospect of missing out on European football for the second consecutive season.

The Blues have had a late season resurgence, which has seen them move into seventh, just two points behind Newcastle in sixth with three games remaining.

A top six finish would see Chelsea qualify for next season’s Europa League, and whilst that isn’t where the club ultimately want to be, it would be a lot better than was looking likely earlier in the season, and would represent significant progress from last season.

Following a tactical switch at half time against Aston Villa, which saw Marc Cucurella invert into midfield when the team are in possession, the Blues have turned in some of their best performances of the season.

The win against Tottenham was followed up by a resounding 5-0 thrashing of West Ham, which has seen Chelsea take seven points from a possible nine after being heavily beaten by Arsenal.

Pochettino believes Chelsea’s players are happy.

Pochettino was quizzed on whether the season could be viewed as a success, but admitted it can’t be without silverware.

“I cannot describe the season as a successful season if you don’t win a title at Chelsea”, he said in quotes picked up by the Morning Star.

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“Again, expectation is always to win titles, circumstances have shown that the reality was really, really tough, from day one until today.

“But deep inside, the players and staff that were living in the reality, I think the staff are happy and the players are so happy.”

There’s no denying Chelsea seems a much happier place this season, and there’s a real togetherness amongst the squad which Pochettino certainly deserves credit for, but football is a results based business, and these last three games are absolute huge for the club with European football an absolute must next campaign.