CHELSEA boss Jose Mourinho has spoken of his admiration for Crystal Palace, ahead of this weekend's clash at Selhurst Park.
In an interview with former Man Utd player turned TV pundit Gary Neville for the Daily Telegraph, Mourinho uses his side's defeat in SE25 last season as an example of his willingness to praise the opposition, if his team are beaten by a better side.
Mourinho said of the 1-0 Palace win in March: "I wanted to kill my guys. But they [Palace] were amazing. And they needed those points to survive. So, in the middle of my unhappiness, I was mature enough to say – hey, these guys were brilliant, because they did very well.
"I told the Palace guys 'congratulations' one by one."
Mourinho went on to say he thinks his team is more able to cope with challenging away days this campaign, having been strengthened by the arrival of Cesc Fabregas and the prolific Diego Costa.
