Pundit identifies Potter’s ‘most trusted’ player at Chelsea who is ‘crucial figure’ in dressing room

Ben Stewart
Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell of Chelsea thanking the fans post match
Ben Chilwell could soon be Chelsea's third longest-serving player

Graham Potter has had a good run of results at Chelsea recently and Stan Collymore has identified one of his key players in the dressing room.

The Chelsea manager has been under serious scrutiny this season as his side have been far off the pace in the Premier League.

However, after winning his last three matches in all competitions the pressure has somewhat lifted on the Chelsea boss.

Potter’s side sit 10th in the Premier League, but the recent performances and results have been more promising.

Collymore recently picked out Ben Chilwell for praise as he believes he is one of the players Potter can trust in the dressing room.

“I’m delighted that Chelsea’s last couple of results have gone in Graham Potter’s favour – he deserves some success after how hard things have been,” the pundit told CaughtOffside.

“Judging by how close they look, it seems Ben Chilwell has emerged as one of Potter’s most trusted allies in the dressing room.”

The defender was on the scoresheet for Chelsea during their 3-1 triumph at Leicester at the weekend.

“I think Chilwell is a good enough professional to be able to command a certain level of respect from the experienced players in the squad, the new arrivals and the youngsters, so I expect him to be a crucial figure in Potter’s tenure at Stamford Bridge.

“The way they embrace each other after a good result and performance tells me that they have a really strong relationship too, and that is vital to a manager who is trying to build a competitive squad.”

Having recently returned from injury, Chilwell has been in fine form for Chelsea and has produced two goal contributions in his last couple of matches.

On his return to the King Power Stadium, Chilwell did receive some stick from the home fans, but he didn’t let the crowd get to him.

Potter was pleased with the way Chilwell responded to the home crowd and was pleased with the result. 

“Ben answered it in the perfect way, it was one of those games where the home crowd made it difficult but they handled it well,” Potter told Sky Sports. “It wasn’t a straightforward game, Leicester had chances and we had to suffer but that will get better as we keep going.

“Our defensive record has been good in terms of goals conceded in the Premier League and the mentality is strong in the team. They give everything, they want to keep the ball out of the net and we have players on the other side who want to put the ball in the back of the net.

“Three wins in the week at this level is very pleasing. Now we have to follow that up with a win next weekend and then into the international break. We will try to get three points against Everton.”

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