Chelsea Sack AVB: We Have to Work Hard, Says Mata

"It hasn't been an easy day for those who, like me, are part of @chelseafc," reads a tweet from Chelsea's Spanish attacking midfielder, Juan Mata.

The tweet comes in the wake of confirmation from the Premier League club that underperforming manager Andre Villas-Boas has been fired and replaced with his former assistant (and former Chelsea player) Roberto Di Matteo.

AVB was fired after an awful 0-1 defeat to West Brom, in a league game on Saturday night. The sacking comes after a run of only three wins in 12 games and one in the last seven; the run includes a 1-3 defeat against Italian side Napoli (in the first leg of a Round of 16 Champions League tie) and the squandering of a 3-0 lead, in a crucial league game, against rivals Manchester United.

Mata, 23, who transferred to Chelsea from Valencia in 2011 (a signing AVB pursued), has been far and away one of the better players in the side so far.

An ESPN report quoted him as saying the club would have to "keep working hard" for better days to come, in the light of his former manager's sacking.

Mata, a product of the Real Madrid youth academy, has made 25 appearances for the club, in the league, so far. He has five goals and nine assists to his name.

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