“It takes the focus off what happens on the pitch.”

And Cole, who played for both West Ham and Chelsea, agreed: “He’s always diplomatic.

“But you need to cause a bit of an uproar because it takes the deflection from the bad elements of your performance.”

Murphy also wanted to see more fire from Potter.

He said: “I wish he was more angry. He was deprived of a win he desperately needed.”

There are concerns the level of abuse aimed at officials at junior level is on a worrying upward trend and it is influenced by the behaviour of the game’s big names.

Potter started his management career in charge of a university team and arrived at Chelsea via Swedish minnows Ostersunds.

Chelsea’s chilled out coach merely described Tomas Soucek’s handball as a “great save”.

Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta was on the bench during the incident.

It was quite unfair for us to maybe not get a penalty and three points

Cesar Azpilicueta

He said: “I was angry. I can speak about myself and when I was watching the iPad on the bench. It was a bad decision that we were not awarded a penalty, that is the truth.

“It was quite unfair for us to maybe not get a penalty and three points.

“But I’ve been with different managers who have expressed themselves in a different way.”

Azpilicueta, 32, is helping to bed in the eight new players who signed for Chelsea during the January transfer window.

The long-serving defender said: “It’s been a bit of a busier January transfer than before but in my role, I try to help them adapt as quickly as possible to the team.

“In football, sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to start your journey in a new club, country, a different language.

“So from my side, I’ve been trying to help integrate them as quickly as possible in the team so that they can express themselves and show their quality, like a few of the boys have done already. I think we have exciting times ahead.”

The Champions League is Chelsea’s last hope of a trophy this season.

Right-back Azpilicueta said: “I never arrive at a Champions League game without thinking we can win it. Tomorrow is not an exception.

“The reality is we’re not in the best form with results but it’s a new competition and it’s time to prove it on the pitch.

“We have to go step by step. It’s not worth looking past this game and it’s a big challenge in this stadium. We have to win the next challenge, show concentration and focus.”