Chelsea forward Cole Palmer praised his team's "courage" after securing a 3-2 Premier League win over Newcastle United on Monday night.
As has been the case so often this season, Palmer was Chelsea's key man at Stamford Bridge, setting up the first goal and scoring the second to take his league goal involvements to 19 (11 goals and eight assists) in his debut campaign.
Palmer saw his sixth-minute shot deftly diverted into the bottom corner by Senegalese striker Nicolas Jackson, and after Alexander Isak had equalised just before half time, the 21-year-old Englishman restored Chelsea's lead after the break with a fine finish.
Mykhailo Mudryk then made it 3-1 to Chelsea when he pinched the ball from teammate Conor Gallagher and slalomed his way through the Newcastle defence before rounding goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Jacob Murphy's thunderous effort in the 90th minute reduced the deficit, but the hosts held on for a deserved victory to give the home fans a reason to celebrate amid an ultimately frustrating season.
Chelsea, who lost the League Cup final in extra time to a depleted Liverpool, remain 11th in the Premier League table but have a game in hand and are four points behind West Ham in seventh, which should be enough to earn a Europa Conference League place.
"We had the courage to play which is what we need as a young team," Palmer said. "We are going to make mistakes, so it’s about going on to the next one and the next one.
"We’ve had some difficult results recently, the cup final versus Liverpool, the game against Wolves [a 4-2 home defeat] – so to get points is vital for us. I think we showed a bit of passion and courage. Winning those second balls and not getting bullied.
"When they scored we thought we knew we had to defend better than before so we could get those three points and take a step in the right direction. It’s about taking it game by game and having good performances.
"If we win football matches, the fans will be happy and we want to do that for them. It’s about taking it game by game and seeing how high we can finish."
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has been under increasing pressure from an agitated fanbase and faced open revolt after last weekend's 2-2 draw at Brentford.
However, Palmer said he and his teammates are firmly behind the manager and echoed the Argentine's frequent calls for time and patience. Chelsea are also still in the hunt for major silverware when they face Championship leaders Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
"I think there is so much talent at Chelsea," Palmer said. "The way that the manager works with us on the pitch, and the things he does with us, it’s only going to get better.
"I’m sure if not next season, the season after, it’s a project, everyone is young and everyone is trying to play well so you will see it sooner or later.
"We’re still in the FA Cup, hopefully we’ll win on Sunday and get to Wembley again. We’ll take each league game as it comes, hopefully climb the table and you’ll never know where we finish."
Pochettino also called on the Chelsea fans to trust his players, saying: "We need to stick together. Until the end we are going to fight to try to give our fans the best things. It helped a little bit today we scored from the beginning, the fans were good and behind us. They need to trust in us."
Newcastle's 12th defeat of the season leaves the Magpies just one point better off than Chelsea in 10th.
The pressure is also rising on Eddie Howe as Saudi-backed Newcastle have failed to build on finishing fourth last season to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
"All three goals are similar in their characteristics. We didn't defend those situations well enough and if you do that you are going to lose games," said Howe.
"I know we can hit the heights of previously, but we are not doing it anywhere near often enough."
There were promising signs for Pochettino as some of his much-criticised expensive young recruits showed glimpses of their potential.
Jackson is now up to 12 goals in his debut season, while 20-year-old French full-back Malo Gusto impressed once again and £100m Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo delivered another assured performance after an inconsistent start to his Chelsea career.
The one new signing Chelsea have been able to rely on all season is Palmer and the England international was comfortably the best player on the pitch, no doubt impressing England manager Gareth Southgate in the stands.
Mudryk, by contrast, has been a constant frustration since joining for £88m just over a year ago. However, Ukrainian showed a glimpse of his talent when, having only been on the pitch five minutes, burst through the heart of the Newcastle defence to turn in just his sixth goal in 46 Chelsea appearances.
