Xabi Alonso sends warning to Chelsea stars ahead of crunch Spurs clash as Blues boss aims to avoid repeat of infamous Battle of the Bridge

· DailyMail

KIERAN GILL: August, September and October last season saw Chelsea receive six red cards in all competitions, including one for then-manager Enzo Maresca.

Xabi Alonso has ordered his Chelsea players to keep calm and carry on by not spoiling their vastly-improved disciplinary record when they take on their arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

August, September and October last season saw Chelsea receive six red cards in all competitions, including one for then-manager Enzo Maresca . This term, Alonso's side have yet to drop down to 10 men with the Spaniard revealing how he purposefully sought to fix this problem after arriving.

One way in which the Blues boss achieved that was by signing Jordan Henderson , the 36-year-old who could now complete a fourth consecutive full 90 when he starts against Spurs.

Alonso credited Henderson with adding to the 'emotional control' that the team needed as they dive into a derby which will forever conjure memories of the 2016 Battle of the Bridge.

> 'We could do better,' Alonso said when asked about Chelsea's red-led previous season which contributed to them finishing 10th and missing out on European qualification.

> 'For me it comes a lot with emotional control, with the control of the game. If you are focused on what you have to do, you are prepared for what's going on. Normally you don't make that many mistakes and you don't overreact to certain situations.

> 'For me this is a fundamental part of the game, to have that emotional control, to deal with all this. The momentum is coming, we keep calm, I don't lose my head and I don't get stupid yellow cards or make stupid penalties. You need to prepare for football to have better control of that.'

Liam Delap, Robert Sanchez and Trevoh Chalobah were among those red carded in the first three months of last season, and, along with Maresca, they are now not with Chelsea.

Alonso and Henderson arrived in the summer, and the manager said on his midfielder: 'Absolutely it helps. Absolutely. It helps for that experience and that composure that you need in certain moments. You have players that sometimes, even during the game, they take a step back to see this is happening and now we need to keep focused and calm.'

It is not easy when the Premier League is full of fans who love seeing hard tackles, aggro between opponents, and end-to-end football. 'It is really difficult,' Alonso conceded. 'You know that if you concede one, the energy is coming, and you need to control the momentum. You can have a mental preparation. You need to have composure to deal with those moments.

> 'To say "Come on guys, we know what we have to do, we have prepared for this and the other moment will come' for me is fundamental." That is from the people on the pitch.

> 'We are expecting a good atmosphere, electric, with good energy, knowing that in a derby this passion is really in the air in the stadium. We need to use it in a proper way because this is all about those games where you feel that excitement.'

Mike Penders will make his first Premier League start in goal with Emiliano Martinez sidelined. Alonso backed the 21-year-old to handle the pressure and compared him to Thibaut Courtois. Chelsea's manager added he phoned the Real Madrid goalkeeper in the summer to receive intel on his Belgian compatriot Penders, saying: 'Thibaut even said himself that he could see resemblances with Mike.'

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