Mauricio Pochettino praised Marc Cucurella after his impressive display against Arsenal.
Cucurella marshalled Bukayo Saka well in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and has resurrected his Chelsea career after deciding to stay at the club in the summer.
The £60million signing from Brighton had an uncertain future but he is now back in the team and Pochettino said: “It's a natural process. When we arrived here three months ago, some players were in a position where they maybe stay or maybe go.
“I didn't know the past, I can only choose the players that we believe can perform. Marc and the club decide to stay in the last transfer window.
“He is training really well, that is why he playing like today, against a very good player like Saka.
“That is him, he deserves the credit because in the last few months he has worked hard and was able to play on the right side, yes, in this way, only what can happen is the team will be better.”
After Chelsea threw away a two-goal lead against Arsenal, Cucurella was left frustrated by their failure to beat the Gunners.
Cucurella said: “The feeling is one of anger, really.
“I know we drew the game but it feels like a loss because we were in control. We played very well, everybody put in a good performance but we need to improve in controlling the game better because we should have seen the result out and got the win.
“The effort shown by the players was very good and deserved the three points, so to not win the game makes me angry.
“We made two mistakes and got punished by a very good team. This is the Premier League, you can concede goals from mistakes and because we are a young team, I think this is something we need to work on and improve for the future.”
