- Mauricio Pochettino praised Enzo Fernández and Conor Gallagher
- The Chelsea duo were on target in the midweek FA Cup victory over Aston Villa.
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Mauricio Pochettino believes it was only a matter of time before players like Connor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez showed their true class for Chelsea.
Both Chelsea midfielders scored in Wednesday night’s excellent 3-1 FA Cup fourth round replay victory against in-form Aston Villa, easing the pressure on Pochettino.
Gallagher, who was rumored to be leaving the club during the January transfer window, with Chelsea keen to sell, scored a superb first goal at Villa Park, and Argentine midfielder Fernández scored an excellent free-kick.
The Chelsea manager insisted: “It was just a matter of time.” Enzo and Connor are really good players. They are always committed to the team and the club.
“They are so happy that they deserve to enjoy playing football. These two boys work very hard to try to perform and I am very satisfied with both of them.”
Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez scored in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Mauricio Pochettino backed the Chelsea duo to continue their form heading into the weekend.
Pochettino, whose 11th-placed team faces Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday after two consecutive league defeats, is convinced the performance at Villa could be a turning point for his team.
The Argentine said: “We had some good performances, but after them we were not consistent enough.”
‘Maybe this could be the starting point for us, to show these kinds of performances more often.
Fernandez has largely been disappointed since completing his £107million transfer to the club in January last year.
There were previous doubts over whether Gallagher would stay at the club after January.
‘We always believe that momentum is changing and that it is time to be consistent. We hope it is something very good for us.
‘The players deserve it because they have been working very hard since the beginning of the season. We have to put it all together, behave like we behave at Villa. There are so many things we need to continue doing now for the future.
‘The difference was the amount of noise that had started before the Villa game, but the performance was really good. “We realized that we had to compete in a different way.”
Chelsea will have defender Benoit Badiashile undergo a late test for the groin problem he suffered at Villa. Thiago Silva, who was left on the bench for the Cup replay, could return to Palace.