Mauricio Pochettino has defended Levi Colwill following his performance during Chelsea’s 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Middlesbrough.

Colwill struggled to cope with the pace and dribbling skills of Isaiah Jones, who set up Hayden Hackney for the only goal of the match.

Colwill was also blamed for making an error in Chelsea’s 3-2 win over Luton Town.

Pochettino however insists the 20-year-old is still young, and needs time to improve.

The Chelsea coach said: “Levi is a young player who can play in different positions. He played as a centre-back in the last game with Axel, and today we played Thiago with Axel, Malo on the right and Levi on the left.

“It’s important for him to get experience of playing in the Premier League with Chelsea there, I think it’s going to help him to be a better player and feel the competition. Levi is having a fantastic season whether he is playing centre-back or full-back.

“He is a player for the future of Chelsea, but at the moment of course when you don’t win you struggle. We are a young team with young players, they need to learn and improve during the competition.”