
Guus
Hiddink admits the 1-0 defeat at Swansea will do the younger members of the
Chelsea team some good in the long-term.
Swansea ended Chelsea's unbeaten 14-game Premier League run under Hiddink at
the Liberty Stadium with Gylfi Sigurdsson netting the winning goal on 25
minutes.
Chelsea were missing experienced players like John Terry, Gary Cahill, Diego
Costa, Eden Hazard, Willian and Nemanja Matic for the defeat as Hiddink gave
further opportunities to some of the younger members of his squad.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Matt Miazga both started the game with Kenedy and
Bertrand Traore coming off the bench.
Miazga was at fault for the winning goal and was replaced at half-time.
Hiddink did not single the American centre-back out for criticism and
instead took the view that defeats like these will be a positive thing for
his younger players to experience.
He said: "We had a poor defensive spell, which gave them the 1-0 lead.
Second half we went looking for a goal but we it didn't materialise.
"It's not just the central defence. The whole team must defend well. I can't
complain about the absence of big players that can make a difference. It's
good for Chelsea to see what other players can do when we substitute the big
players. I don't like defeats but it's good to expose that to these young
players."
Chelsea announced earlier this week that Antonio Conte will be taking over
as manager after leading Italy at Euro 2016 in France this summer.
Hiddink refuted the suggestion that the appointment had affected his players
in this game, saying: "I don't think so.
"What we did in the second half was good. I don't think they had it in mind
to look to next season."