Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has explained his altercation with a ball boy during his side's 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

The 51-year-old Portuguese was seen running to the youngster when he failed to release the ball quickly to Cesar Azpilicueta.

"I thought that Azpilicueta was going to do something that a player can do when he loses his emotional control," the Daily Star quotes him as saying. "The kids are educated to do this, but if a player hits a ball boy, the person that educates them disappears.

"The ball boy stays and the player in trouble stays, that pushes the kids or punches the kid or kicks the kid. And the way Azpi was going I thought [he might] because the kids were doing that all the time.

"I went to stop Azpi and after that I had a chance to get the kid and the kid was cute. He came to me and I told him, 'You do this, one day will somebody punch you'. Last year the same thing happened with Eden [Hazard] but the kids, it's not their fault."

An own goal from John Terry in the second half proved to be the difference between Palace and Chelsea.