Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that he was impressed by the performance of Lesley Ugochukwu in midfield yesterday against Bournemouth.
He told the club website that the youngster’s display was one of the few good signs from the 0-0 draw.
The manager decided to hand Ugochukwu his first league start yesterday as he dealt with yet more injuries coming his way off the back of the international break.
Moises Caicedo was unavailable after representing his country, and therefore a new partner for Enzo Fernandez was required.
With no Romeo Lavia fit either, it was the responsibility of the Frenchman to fill that void on the south coast.
The 19-year-old can be more than happy with his performance despite the lacklustre end product from the Blues.
A number of chances were missed yet again in front of goal, as they were held to another draw to a team they should really be beating.
This result has seen them on five points from five games, languishing in the bottom half of the table.
Despite the all-round negatives surrounding the game, Pochettino has claimed the performance of Ugochukwu in his first start for the club is something that did impress him.
He said: “Lesley Ugochukwu is one of the positives. He’s very young, to compete at this level is difficult and I think his performance was good.”
It remains to be seen whether the youngster is seen as someone who can continue to start when a number of the other players in the squad begin to return from injury.
However, in his 90 minute performance yesterday he showed he can certainly compete at this level, despite there being plenty of development still to be done in his game.