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Ancelotti silent on Wilkins legal case

Lee Bowyer did the damage against Chelsea © PA Photos

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Carlo Ancelotti refused to comment on Ray Wilkins' decision to seek legal advice over his dismissal from Stamford Bridge, following Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to Birmingham.

The reigning champions were undone by a 17th-minute Lee Bowyer strike at St Andrew's, in addition to a fine goalkeeping display by Ben Foster in the Birmingham goal.

However, Ancelotti had to play the role of politician in his post-match interview, following the release of a statement by Wilkins claiming his departure from the club was "undoubtedly unfair".

The Chelsea manager would only offer: "The fact that Ray had gone did not affect things today. As regards his statement, I don't have any comment on that."

Addressing the match itself, Ancelotti refused to criticise his players, insisting they did not deserve to lose. Chelsea registered over 30 attempts on goal during the match, and the Italian put the defeat down to bad luck.

"I've already said to the players 'don't lose confidence because you played good football'," revealed Ancelotti. "The result is frustrating but they deserved to win. The team didn't play well against Sunderland and this result is not good but we didn't deserve to lose. We didn't win because we were unlucky and because Ben Foster played a good game.

"We have to take confidence from the way we played. It is just the result that was disappointing.

"It is a strange Premier League this season. There are a lot of opportunities for teams to close the gap at the top. We are losing opportunities but so are other teams. It is a more difficult competition this season because more teams believe in themselves. A month ago I said when we were doing well that there would be difficult moments ahead. This is one of them. But if we keep playing like that then we will win games."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.