Di Matteo expected Chelsea axe

Roberto Di Matteo has admitted he thought he was being sacked, not promoted, when he was handed the reins at Chelsea last season.

The Blues were beaten at West Brom on March 3, which led to Andre Villas-Boas's demise as manager less than 24 hours later. Villas-Boas's then-assistant was immediately appointed caretaker following a training-ground meeting with owner Roman Abramovich, director Eugene Tenenbaum and chief executive Ron Gourlay.

But that was far from the outcome Di Matteo was bracing himself for and asked if he had been expecting the boot, he said: "I did, yeah, quite frankly. It was a very emotional day, that day, for us."

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