Chelsea kept only their fourth clean sheet of the season on Tuesday night when they came away with a 0-0 draw against Dynamo Kiev in Kiev. One of the Blues’ top performers on the night was Nemanja Matic. The Serbian recovered possession 12 times and had 100 percent success rates in tackles and clearances, a perfect defensive midfielder’s performance.

While the draw put Chelsea’s group stage destiny in their own hands with two of their last three games at Stamford Bridge, Matic isn’t getting carried away yet. The 27-year-old believes the Blues are slowly getting better after their disastrous start to the season saw them lose four league games plus another in the Champions League to Porto in match day two, and he attributes his team’s improvement to the hard work put in by the players.

“Step by step I think we are getting better. We are not in a great position but we are working hard and slowly we will get back to what we had last season,” Matic told Chelsea’s official website.

Matic is confident Chelsea will improve further, after last weekend’s league win over Aston Villa was their first in four games. He admits to the lack of confidence within the team which has stemmed from their poor results, and says he will only be satisfied if and when Chelsea get out of their current predicaments and start challenging at the top of the table in the Premier League.

“I’m sure that as a team we will improve. Confidence is not high when you are in a position like we are now in the Premier League but I’m sure we will do better. I will be happy when we get out of the group and get closer to the top of the Premier League,” he added.

With West Ham’s Upton Park the next destination for Chelsea on Saturday afternoon, Matic will look to carry forward his good vein of form from the Champions League game into the league. Chelsea are currently down in 12th in the standings, but a win against the Hammers could propel them into the top half of the table.