Reece James insists struggling Chelsea are working hard to save their season — but that effort has failed to keep boss Graham Potter in his job.

The Blues slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League table on Saturday as Aston Villa secured a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge to leapfrog them and move up to ninth following Fulham's defeat at Bournemouth. 

Despite James making it clear after the match that Potter's side had not thrown in the towel, the result proved to be the final straw for Todd Boehly and Co.

Speaking following Chelsea's 10th league defeat of the season, the England ace said: "We had the chances to get a goal but we didn't take them and got punished.

"It's very tough but we're working hard. It's just the small details that are not clicking at the moment and we've got to go back to the drawing board and try to change this."

A mistake from Marc Cucurella gifted Ollie Watkins the opportunity to open the scoring for Villa after 18 minutes of what proved to be Potter's last game at the helm. 

The in-from striker calmly lifted the ball over Kepa Arrizabalaga and the home crowd appeared resigned to the fact from that point on that the result was not going to go their way. 

John McGinn's 56th-minute strike wrapped up the points for Unai Emery's men but James believes it may have been different had Ben Chilwell's header shortly before half-time not been disallowed for a push. 

The versatile defender, 23, said: "When a team go 1-0 up and they're away from home, of course they're going to try to get every foul and decision going their way. 

"Personally, I thought it was harsh but the referee is the referee."

With Potter's short reign over, interim head coach Bruno Saltor must lift Chelsea for Tuesday's rescheduled home clash with Liverpool, who were thumped 4-1 by Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday.