Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi deserves praise and not abuse for the dirty job he does, his manager Roberto Di Matteo has said.

“I had a good conversation with John, and he seems to handle it well (racial abuse on Twitter),” said the Chelsea boss Di Matteo.

“I have a lot of faith in him. I think he’s done extremely well for us in that position. It’s a bit of a dirty job there to try and break up the opposition’s play and it doesn’t always get recognised with the right credit.”

Di Matteo has also condemned in totality the abuse rained on Mikel after the Champions League game against Juventus at Stamford Bridge last week.