Álvaro Morata reveals he played through the pain from a back injury for much of this season

"I wanted to play for the fans"

It is a cliché that players arriving in England from foreign European leagues need an adaptation period to settle in, but it has been repeatedly proven to be true. No player confirms the theory better than Álvaro Morata. The striker joined Chelsea for a club record £58m after growing tired of being a substitute at Real Madrid and got off to a flying start, scoring eight goals in his first nine games. But since then, he has struggled to maintain a run of form and his lack of confidence in front of goal is evident for all to see. The Spaniard has had to deal with off-field issues and injuries throughout this season, which has of course affected his form. The 25-year-old also rushed himself back from injury, which he has admitted was a mistake. He played through the pain in an attempt to please the fans, but acknowledges that he should not have done so.

"Everything was good until I had the problems with my back,' he said. 'I played with a lot of pain and it probably would have been better if I'd stopped", the striker said.

"But I wanted to play with my team-mates, for the club and the fans. Now it's in the past. My first year could have been better, but there are still more games to go and we have a chance to win the FA Cup", he added.

Chelsea look set to miss out on qualifying for Champions League football, as they lie fifth, 10 points behind Tottenham Hotspur with 6 matches of the season remaining. But the Blues could still salvage a largely disappointing season by winning the FA Cup. They face Southampton in the semi-final, while Spurs take on Manchester United in the other. Morata will be hoping to end a troublesome season on a happy note and a winning goal at Wembley could do just the trick.