Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has described the sensational training ground bust-up between Antonio Rudiger and Kepa Arrizabalaga as a positive for the club.
The physical confrontation between the pair at Cobham came on Easter Sunday, less than 24 hours after the Blues were dismantled 5-2 by Sam Allardyce's relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion side.
Centre half Rudiger was dismissed from training after a shoving match between the German and goalkeeper Kepa after a late tackle during a small-sided training exercise, although Rudiger later apologised unprompted and the pair made up.
And Alonso admitted the passion and desire shown by the pair was a positive rather than a negative, despite the heated encounter.
He told beIN SPORTS: 'These are things that happen.
'It shows the level of competition that is in the team, the hunger we show even on the training ground and it is good for the team.'
'Even before training finished it was all good. Nothing new, it has always happened.
'It will happen again. We have to take the positive and move on and get ready for the next game.'
Next up Thomas Tuchel's side will look to bounce back from their first defeat of his tenure when they travel to Porto for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
dennisachafu
188
I decided to stop commenting about Chelsea for now since they decided to disgrace the fans against Wes Brom. That match took us out of top 4 and has made other teams to pile pressure on us. It was a match that brought a lot of questions on the team's seriousness and ambition. No chelsea fan would be happy if he remembers that match no matter how he pretends. Now Kepa and Rudiger had a physical battle in training which made Tuchel to send Rudiger home. I don't think this is the right time for this. I hope we qualify for top 4 or win the champions league. If not, the season is a total disaster.