Goals from Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reece James sealed a crucial result against the Italian champions and took us level with Milan on four points in Group E ahead of the return at San Siro next week.

Potter was understandably pleased with his team’s display and praised different elements of a controlled performance.

‘It was a good night for us,’ he said. ‘We needed to play well and have a good attitude, and I thought the attitude and application of the players was fantastic. It was a really important win for us.

‘We started off a little nervous for the first five minutes, which is probably just a result of us wanting to do so well so much, but then you saw the appetite of the players. We got control of it and offered a threat, pushing before the goal, and it’s always important to get the first goal obviously.

‘We had to start a bit on the back foot in the second half and suffered a bit, which is good, and to score the second goal gave us a bit of a breather. Overall, I can’t complain with a clean sheet, three goals and great personality from the players, so it was really good.’

Potter provided an update on goalscorer Fofana, who came off with a knee knock…

‘We’ll have to scan it tomorrow and see how he is but there’s nothing to report at the moment. That’s the one disappointing thing about the evening so we have our fingers crossed. We’re concerned but I don’t want to speculate on it now.

‘These things happen. He’s a young guy and a strong guy but we’ll support him.’

There were reflections on the manager’s early days working with the players…

‘They knew the level had dropped a bit and when you do that at this level you can be punished. This performance was a credit to the players and my job is just to remind them that they can play at the level they did today.

‘The boys have been really open, responsible, honest, they’ve been fantastic to work with. They know they can do better, which is great from a coach’s perspective.’

Potter had words of praise for James, who scored and assisted…

‘Reece is just a fantastic player and a young player so he’s developing all the time. He’ll get better and better as we go. I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He’s got a lot to offer and he can play in any game in the world so my job is to help him reach his potential because his potential is beyond the sky.

‘We love him and he’s so important for us. His potential is he could be a Chelsea legend and that’s the level he has, but for that to happen he has to be part of a successful team and that’s what we’re working towards.’

Finally, Potter looked ahead to next week’s rematch…

‘We’re looking forward to going to the San Siro, I am that’s for sure. It’s a fantastic place to play football. You saw the away support here - they were very loud and got behind the team so I can imagine what it’s going to be like at the San Siro.

‘We’ll have to be strong and be ready for that. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us.’