Victorious Benitez revels in Bridge atmosphere

Interim manager Rafael Benitez praised the Stamford Bridge atmosphere

and the his players after a winning return home after his criticism of

Chelsea supporters.

Demba Ba's 28th-minute goal saw Chelsea claim a

1-0 win over West Brom to move back above Tottenham to third place in

the Barclays Premier League for 24 hours at least, depending on the

result of Sunday's North London derby.

Chelsea's fifth win in

seven matches came at the end of a week in which Benitez's criticisms of

the Blues fans and his title of 'interim' boss following the FA Cup win

at Middlesbrough led to speculation his caretaker appointment could

come to a premature end.

"I was today [Saturday] really pleased

with the performance on the pitch and the atmosphere was really good,"

said Benitez, who was smiling broadly afterwards.

"It was a great performance. The team, for 75 minutes, were in control, good play, good passes and great opportunities.

"The (West Brom) keeper (Ben Foster) was man of the match, for me. That means a lot."

Much of the focus was on the Spaniard after his midweek deviation from measured politician to ranting rabble-rouser.

Due

to his prior association with Liverpool, Benitez's temporary

appointment was never a popular one, but he hoped the crowd would use

their energies to back the team.

They came with handmade banners -

"The Interim One" and "Rafa Benitez we're just not that inter im" among

them - and chanted the names of his immediate predecessor Roberto Di

Matteo and Jose Mourinho, who could yet return to west London as the

Spaniard's successor.

Benitez anticipated questions over the atmosphere.

"We had a lot of attempts, very good football, the atmosphere was good," he said.

"Before you start asking about the fans and the reaction, I will say I was really pleased with the fans behind the team.

"The players played with more confidence and it was clear it was very positive."

There

is recent precedent for a change of Blues manager following losses to

West Brom, with the Baggies the final Premier League opponents for both

Andre Villas-Boas and Di Matteo.

Many wondered if this would be Benitez's last stand, but he expects to see out his contract until the end of the season.

Chelsea

will then be searching for a new manager once more, the 10th in 10

years under owner Roman Abramovich. There were loud chants in the second

half for Mourinho, who has been linked with a return, but Benitez would

not address questions directly about his old adversary.

The

Spaniard, who remains confident of fulfilling his brief of securing

Champions League football next term, said: "The main thing is the team.

We needed three points.

"Today [Saturday] they (the fans) were

behind the team, everybody was happy, the players were playing very good

football, getting three points for a good position in the table.

"We have to wait and see what happens [in the North London derby] tomorrow [Sunday]."

Benitez

played down the omission of captain John Terry, insisting the defender

is fit, and the spurned chances which meant the score was not as

comfortable as it might have been.

Rather than bemoaning his

side's lack of cutting edge, with Oscar most culpable, he praised the

performance of Foster, who has made himself available for England.

"We had a lot of chances, he was really good and we couldn't stop him," he said.

"We created the opportunities to score more goals, to kill the game. We didn't do it.

"Still we were defending well, clean sheet. I'm really pleased with the response of the players."

West

Brom boss Steve Clarke insisted the performance of Foster was nothing

out of the ordinary and said it would have impressed the watching

England manager Roy Hodgson ahead of this month's matches with San

Marino and Montenegro.

"Ben plays like that week in, week out," Clarke said.

"He's probably made Roy happy because he's made himself available for selection and it gives Roy a nice problem."

Clarke

was reluctant to comment on Benitez's situation and was also keen to

move on from the furore surrounding substitute Peter Odemwingie, who

came on to play just a few short miles from where he had hoped to now be

plying his trade - QPR

Clarke said: "Listen, the Peter Odemwingie saga for us is over. It's finished.

"He's a key member of our squad and he's got a big part to play for the rest of the season."

Odemwingie was to the fore late on, but Albion could not find the equaliser.

"We

stayed in the game until the last minute but couldn't quite get the

clear-cut chance that would've got us a point," Clarke added.

Source: Fox Sport