The 26-year-old, a £52 million summer signing, has yet to make his West London debut after suffering a knee injury during pre-season.

On Saturday, he was included in the squad for the first time, with Pochettino stating that he was ‘ready’ to play, but he was not subbed on despite Chelsea not utilizing their full allocation of changes.

Saturday’s game was dominated by the Blues, who had 78% possession and 15 shots, while the visitors only had one shot on goal.

Despite this, they were frustrated for much of the first half until Cole Palmer broke the deadlock in the 54th minute and Nicolas Jackson scored the game-winner seven minutes later.

Despite the fact that Sheffield United posed no threat of a comeback, Pochettino chose to keep Nkunku on the bench, despite Chelsea fans’ eagerness to see the France international in action.

However, Pochettino, who is already coping with a slew of injuries, does not want to rush the former RB Leipzig attacker’s comeback.

Pochettino explained to BBC Match of the Day why he would not give Nkunku his long-awaited debut: ‘We didn’t want to take a risk with him and give him more time for his recovery.’

On his side’s much-improved display after back-to-back losses, Pochettino continued: ‘I’m very pleased. The performance was good.

‘It’s always good against a team who play aggressively with a low block.

‘In the second half we changed the position of Palmer and Raheem Sterling, we tried to put Palmer and Mudryk in a better position in front of goal.

‘I’m confident, even when we lose. I really believe in the players and the club. Now it’s about to use that in the next competition in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.’

On man of the match Palmer, he added: ‘For me he’s a playmaker, a player who can link the team. He’s also a player with the capacity to score goals and give assists. The contribution of Cole Palmer from day one has been massive.’