Mauricio Pochettino admitted Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in September had a “big impact” on his players’ confidence.
Ollie Watkins’ second-half winner saw Villa claim all three points at the Blues’ expense after Malo Gusto was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Lucas Digne.
The two sides meet again in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday night and Pochettino believes the manner of the defeat stunted his young Chelsea side’s development.
“The way we lost the game against Aston Villa was a big impact because I think we deserved (to win) with 10 men,” Pochettino told a press conference ahead of the fourth-round clash at Stamford Bridge.
“We were pressing high, we created two big chances and we didn’t score and we conceded in a chance that was unbelievable because we were the only team trying to score and press.
“That was a massive impact in our confidence. If we scored and won the game with 10 men against a team like Aston Villa it should be a big boost for us, massive in confidence and belief and (give us) the capacity to grow quickly.
“This type of result sometimes delayed a little bit the capacity to grow and if you win the game it’s like everything starts to run much better.”
High-flyers Villa sit five points off Premier League leaders Liverpool in fourth and advancing in the FA Cup would only strengthen an already memorable season.
Pochettino insisted the difference between his ninth-place Chelsea and Unai Emery’s side has nothing to do with the quality of squad, but instead confidence.
The Argentinian manager suggested that if Chelsea had beaten Villa in September then the result would have galvanised his players to be in a better position.
When asked if Villa have a stronger squad than Chelsea, Pochettino added: “No. This moment is confidence.
“If rather than losing the game with 10 men and we won the game, it would be the opposite position than we are now, maybe, I don’t know.
“The reality is our reality. We did not compete in the way that we should for many details, we are talking about details with the squad, the players, meetings, in training.”
Armando Broja has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this month but his manager highlighted the Albania international’s potential, insisting the 22-year-old needs time to develop.
Pochettino said: “The potential is massive. Of course, it is about a process.
“All the biggest strikers always need time. When they are young, they need to find their own balance. But I still believe that he has the potential to be an amazing striker.”
Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering
Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.
Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.
Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.
The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.
Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.
Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.
Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display
Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.
Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.
Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq.
Data Debrief: Clinical finishers
Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.
With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.
Al-Akhdoud 2-3 Al-Nassr: Brozovic stunner delays Al-Hilal coronation
Marcelo Brozovic scored twice – including a fine half-volley in second-half stoppage time – as Al-Nassr beat Al-Akhdoud 3-2 to delay Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League title coronation on Thursday.
Former Inter midfielder Brozovic fired in a seventh-minute opener from outside the area before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped into an empty net to double the visitors' lead.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork early in the second half and Al-Nassr relinquished control of the game from there, with goals from Hassan Al Habib and Saviour Godwin making it 2-2.
However, Brozovic blasted a bouncing ball home following a goalmouth scramble in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time to hand Al-Nassr a fifth straight win and keep them within nine points of Al-Hilal, with three games still to play.
They have only delayed the inevitable though as the leaders – who have only dropped four points all season – need just one more point to secure their crown ahead of facing Al-Hazm on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Brozovic upstages Ronaldo
While it's usually Ronaldo writing the headlines for Al-Nassr, he was upstaged by Brozovic on Thursday as the Croatian found the net with both of his shots, also leading all players on the pitch for final-third passes (19) and completing 90.1 per cent of his passes overall (81/95).
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