Willian puts in extra training to perfect finishing

Chelsea attacker Willian believes he is showing the benefits of the additional time he has been spending on the training pitch this season.

The Brazilian has been Chelsea’s standout performer in a below-par campaign, with last year’s champions sitting 12th in the Premier League following a disastrous start to the defence of their title.

Willian has contributed 10 goals in all competitions, including five in the Champions League alone, but insists his form is no fluke.

“I’ve worked hard on getting myself into more dangerous positions and after training I stay behind to practice my finishing,” he told the club’s official website.

“So far this season has gone well for me in that area. I feel very happy because in the Premier League it’s not easy to score goals.

“As well as that, in training we’ve been doing a little bit more work on crossing, finishing and getting into the box, which helps with the confidence going into matches.

“It’s very important to be able to score different types of goals: outside the box, inside the box, free-kicks. Diego Costa is doing fantastically well at the moment, Pedro and Eden Hazard have been scoring in the last few weeks too, so that’s good for the whole team.    

“Sometimes it’s difficult to score three or four in a game, you might just have to get one and try to see the game out, but we are always aiming to score a lot. In three separate games recently we’ve scored five goals.”