Chelsea boss Graham Potter has explained his decision to bench Mykhailo Mudryk against Liverpool on Saturday.

Chelsea fans were no doubt hoping to see Mudryk make his debut in the starting XI having joined the club last Sunday for €100million – the second most expensive signing in the club’s history.

Prior to kick-off, Potter was asked why the 22-year-old wasn’t in the starting XI and he explained: “He can play the back end of the game. He has not played much recently but he has been training.”

Mudryk was introduced ten minutes into the second-half in place of Lewis Hall and he showed more than enough to suggest he will be a constant thorn in the side of Premier League defenders.

Asked to assess Mudryk’s first performance in a Chelsea shirt, Potter told BT Sport: “He’s not played football for a while he’s been on a mid-season break so we had to mange his minutes he’s still in that phase.

“But I think you could see his quality and thought he had a good impact on the game.”