Mauricio Pochettino has urged patience with Christopher Nkunku after the Blues’ summer recruit from RB Leipzig made his debut on Tuesday night.

The 26-year-old has been out since pre-season with a major knee injury and has been working his way back to fitness over the previous four months.

Chelsea supporters saw the forward in action for the first time as he came off the bench with 20 minutes remaining in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.

The game ended 1-1 after a late Mykhailo Mudryk equalizer for the home side, and Nkunku was one of the Chelsea stars who easily put his penalty away in the shootout.

Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier shot wide, and Matt Ritchie’s penalty attempt was saved by Blues goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, allowing Chelsea to win 4-2 from the spot.

When asked how important the game was for players like Nkunku, Mudryk, who has struggled at the club so far, and Petrovic, who is eager to make an impression, Pochettino focused on the French forward.

‘Yes. We are talking about players that are young. Who arrive and suffer an injury, like Christopher,’ said Pochettino at a post-match press conference. ‘Now they meet the team and in the middle of the competition they need time to start to perform and to get the best form and sometimes everyone can judge you have recovered the player, but most important is in which form?

‘The expectation is to see the best Nkunku and we need time for him to perform in the way that we expect. One thing is to be available another is to perform in the way we we expect.

‘We will not put too much pressure on him day by day, and push him to arrive as soon as possible at his best to try to help the team.’

Chelsea has three Premier League games left before the end of the month, with trips to Wolves on Christmas Eve, Crystal Palace on the 27th, and Luton three days later.

Nkunku will want to be engaged throughout the hectic schedule in order to further endear himself to the Stamford Bridge crowd.