'"What we've done so far is like playing three decent holes in golf. You want another 15 before you've got anything to talk about. I don't know why I've thrown that in because I'm hopeless at golf. I don't think I've ever played three decent holes, certainly not consecutively.

“Their record is astounding because they are not playing secondary opposition. But at some stage it will end. We're going to try and win. It's not an idle boast, it is something we feel on the day we are capable of doing.

“We could go to Stamford Bridge and get turned over and people will say we were a flash in the pan, but that's not my view at all.

’"By the same token we could go there and win and that would give us great confidence, but it wouldn't mean we had cracked it yet. We're making progress. We're pleased we qualified for the Uefa group stages, but the top four have gone well past that.

"The gap to the top four is big, really big, and what Manchester City seem to be about to do might put paid to a lot of things. Instead of being a top four it looks as if there could be a top five. We'd have to compete strongly to be up there but there's no point being in the league without ambition.”

Martin O’Neill pre-match.


"I woke up this morning, thinking we would really win the game - so I am a bit daft - because we have been playing well and we came into the game at Stamford Bridge with plenty of confidence.

”Even when we went a goal behind I thought, 'If we can weather this, our good players will come to the fore'. But we weren't there and Chelsea were just brilliant. I thought they were magnificent and we genuinely could have learned a lot.

"We would have to have our best players playing at the top of their game to compete today, never mind anything else. It was a harsh lesson. It's where you want to be, what you want to aspire to, and I felt they were terrific. We didn't help ourselves, of course, but that doesn't matter. I think it's probably the best Chelsea have played. Some of the best sides in Europe might have been well beaten."

Martin O’Neill.


“Martin seems to have this knack of getting the best out of all the players.

“A lot of managers can't do that. From what I have seen the whole squad go out and work as hard as they can every day.

“When it comes to match day all the players back each other. It is refreshing to see. That doesn't always happen in football. People get selfish.

“Obviously I have only been with him a short time but what I experienced when I was playing against his sides over the years is you never have an easy game against one of his teams - well I never did anyway. You won't see too many in this team not giving their all. That is a great attribute to have because you can win a lot of points on team spirit alone.

“Since the start of the season, three of the back four and myself are effectively brand new. Curtis Davies was here last year but he sustained an injury. For the five of us as a unit these are the first games we have played together. Considering we are all still learning about each other we have started very strongly. I rate this defence very highly.”

Brad Friedel on Martin O’Neill.


"Nobody is going to volunteer for a rest. When you are playing for a side doing really well everybody wants to be a part of that.”

Ashley Young.


“Odious comparison it might be but Sir Alex mentioned something about [Cristiano] Ronaldo and it not being the right time for him to move. If we can keep progressing I'm hoping we would be capable of withstanding that sort of pressure for people to move. At this minute I think it's the perfect stage for Ashley, the perfect stage for Gabby, they are thriving in the environment.”

Martin O’Neill.


“We’re learning all the time but that was a harsh lesson. We need to regroup and start again when they return from international duty.

“We want to be up there with the top four sides, otherwise what’s the point?

“They played exceptionally well and we didn’t. We can play much better. From start to finish they were strong and comfortable on the ball. We have a good distance to go to compete on a regular basis with those sides.”

Martin O'Neill.