Thomas Tuchel bemoans referee performance in Chelsea's draw with Brighton

Thomas Tuchel has criticised the refereeing performance of Mike Dean following Chelsea's disastrous draw with Brighton at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had taken the lead via a Romelu Lukaku header in the first half, before a stoppage time goal from Danny Welbeck earned a well deserved point.

Speaking after the game, Tuchel lambasted the referee, the injury issues he's facing at the moment, and, well, pretty much everything in between.

"Very frustrating and of course very disappointing," he began. "We gave everything and we had enough chances to win the match.

"It was a very intense match, we had to make another two changes because of injuries, and the boys in the dressing room are completely exhausted. It's the same every single matchday now.

"We had a horrible decision from the referee, it was a clear penalty for 2-0 that wasn't even checked. Everything's against us."

When asked what went wrong for Chelsea in the second half, Tuchel replied: "We have two injuries, and we played with players who'd normally be out after 60 minutes. That's the point - nothing else."

Tuchel also provided a small update on Reece James after he went down with an ailment in the first half, noting that it was a hamstring injury.

The Chelsea boss continued to bemoan his side's injury issues when asked about looking ahead of this weekend's clash with Liverpool.

"No need to look ahead to Liverpool," he said. "We have to find players who are ready to play.

"We have no more wing-backs, everybody's injured and players are coming back from Covid. We're playing, playing, playing and I will always protect my players."