Graham Potter claims Denis Zakaria did "more than we asked" after marking his Chelsea debut with a goal.
The Swiss midfielder was signed on loan from Juventus by Thomas Tuchel in the summer but has had to wait for his Blues debut. He marked it in style as he notched what would prove to be Chelsea's winner as they saw off Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League with the midfield linchpin earning huge praise from his manager.
Zakaria started in midfield alongside Jorginho and Mason Mount, tasked with protecting his side's back four after they conceded four in the loss at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday. The 25-year-old is yet to be exposed to the Premier League, but highlighted his quality on the European stage.
Potter said on his debutant: "I thought he was really good. You can see what he brings, the quality he has and he played with enthusiasm. He had good discipline and got forward when he could. I was really impressed with him. He certainly did more than we asked which was to give us competition there. He did everything he could. He helped the team and scored - a great debut."
Zakaria's strike, which came after half an hour, followed Raheem Sterling's equaliser. Chelsea had fallen behind early on against the Croatian outfit, who had beaten the west Londoners earlier on in this season's competition.
Sterling has struggled to influence games in recent weeks and had registered an unwanted goal drought for his new employers, but was more effective after a positional change allowed him to occupy a more central role.
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"Really pleased. Not the ideal start for us but the character was good and overall we played quite well. We attacked well, had some good chances and finished it off in a positive way," added Potter.
"Whenever we have played Raheem Sterling we try to get him as high as we can. He has only ever needed to defend against the full-backs so it was a slight change in terms of the back four behind him but not too much change.
Chelsea's night did end on a downer as Ben Chilwell pulled up in the final stages with what looked like a hamstring problem. The left-back had to be assisted off the pitch which has put his World Cup hopes in serious doubt just weeks out from England's opening game in Qatar.
Gareth Southgate is already sweating on the fitness of several key men and Potter did not appeared optimistic about Chilwell. He said" "It doesn't look positive. It's a hamstring. We will have to scan it and see how it is."
