Following a Carling Cup tie win on penalties that certainly didn't go to Andre Villas-Boas's plan, the manager spoke like a man who had discovered plenty about many of his players.

Injuries during the game, a red card, extra-time for players who had not completed 90 minutes this season, and a returning big-name striker who had to be left on the bench were all tests on a night when a starting team with nine changes from the weekend took on a Fulham side that was an unfamiliar line up too.

'It was a superhuman effort during 70 minutes,' Villas-Boas said as he reflected on the period of play after Alex had been sent off early in the second half.

'It was even more gratifying because Fulham play good football so they didn't just lump it forward when we had 10 men, which would have played into our hands, they played the ball in and around us in all sorts of ways for 70 minutes so to keep a clean sheet and still create the most amount of opportunities, and the best opportunities, is out of this world. I am very happy with the display commitment wise, effort wise and concentration wise.'

The talk prior to the game had been of the young players who would be involved but it was some of the older stagers who earned the manager's praise just as much.

'Paulo Ferreira had a fantastic game, David Luiz had a fantastic game, Florent Malouda had an incredible game of running 120 minutes and Frank Lampard the same when he came on.

'Oriol Romeu had an amazing game too,' Villas-Boas added, turning his attention to one young full debutant.

'His ability to receive the ball is something out of this world, its extraordinary his comfort with the ball, receiving it straight from the goalkeeper under pressure. You saw that led eventually to a ball loss but that is the risk you take when you build from the back.

'It shows that the school where he is from is fantastic and shows that he can play in the Premier League.

'It is a pity for Josh McEachran that he came off early because he was having a good game as well.'

That substitution was because John Terry was introduced because of Alex's red card. Other players who were subbed were Daniel Sturridge and Petr Cech due to injury, and Didier Drogba was unable to make a return due to those three early changes made.

'Petr went for a scan but he is okay. He felt a little bit dizzy with a head injury and he decided it was better not to take risks. He can play the next game.

'With Sturridge somebody fell on his legs and he felt a strong pain in the knee but the ligaments are okay so there shouldn't be any problem. He will only miss the next game at the most.'

Villas-Boas had no complaint over the Alex dismissal saying the defender took more of his opponent than the ball.

'We knew that if we went into extra-time we could be struggling because these players who have played today, a couple of them don't have many minutes played this season so straight away you go into a 120-minute situation which is difficult for the body, and that is why the win is special because they were able to cope with it and they were able to keep their discipline throughout.'

Any Chelsea fan knows the win is special also because it came about via a dreaded penalty shoot-out. This was only our second success in nine attempts at one of those.

'That was made aware to me by my players and my players also told me that Chelsea have been out of the Carling Cup with 10 men all of the time. So in one stroke we break two bad omens and that is good for us.'