Turf Moor is always a difficult place to visit and Saturday was no exception, as we were made to work hard for little reward in a first half which ended goalless.

However, James opened the scoring shortly after the break, before Havertz netted twice and Christian Pulisic rounded off a much better second half for the Blues.

‘I’m very pleased’ said Havertz. ‘The result is very good for us. I think we needed these goals and also to play with zero goals for them.

‘It was difficult, especially the first half. It was important for us that we scored very early in the second half. I think overall it was a good performance from us.

‘We switched a little bit our formation and switched some positions on the field in the second half, I think that helped us. Reece’s goal was brilliant and it helped us a lot to get an early goal and we are pleased about this result.’

It was an impressive return to the line-up by James, who hadn’t started a game before this since the 1-1 draw with Brighton in December due to injury, as the England international scored the first goal before setting up Havertz’s second in Burnley, meaning Havertz and his team-mates are clearly delighted to have him back.

‘We’re very happy,’ added the German. ‘I think he’s a special player for us, a very important player for us. He’s a full-back but he scores goals, he assists goals, and I think that’s very important for us. He’s a great character and a great player.’

Havertz was also pleased with his own contribution, especially his two goals. Despite some important strikes in the Champions League, Club World Cup and Carabao Cup, the 22-year-old hadn’t found the net in the Premier League since the corresponding fixture against Burnley at Stamford Bridge in November, meaning he was delighted to be back on the score sheet in the competition.

‘It’s always very difficult when you don’t score but, of course, these goals help and I’m happy about this. Sometimes you have to wait a little bit to get some more goals. I always want more and more. Sometimes it’s hard but of course I’m happy today to score two goals.’

It is the victory that is most important to Havertz though, as we made it three consecutive wins and clean sheets in the league, helping to erase the pain of our defeat in the Carabao Cup final and continue our return to form following a difficult end to 2021.

‘The confidence is there. I think after the loss in the Carabao Cup final it was a little bit hard to come back, but we showed great character in the FA Cup game.

‘I think the last few weeks, also the last few months, were good from us. The first six months of the season were kind of a little bit hard, especially the winter time when we had a lot of injured players.

‘So I think we are on a good run again but we want to continue that and keep on going.’