Kai Havertz’s second-half header was enough to settle a hard-fought London derby on an emotional afternoon at Stamford Bridge as tributes were paid to Gianluca Vialli before kick-off.

Before focusing on the football, and the signing of Mykhailo Mudryk who was presented at half-time, Potter started his post-match media duties with some words on Vialli.

‘It was a wonderful and fitting tribute for an amazing man,’ said Potter.

‘We’ve been very saddened of course but then you start to think about his life and what a special person he was to us all, we’re just full of love for him.’

Potter noted the impact the Chelsea support had today

‘The crowd were great. They recognised the moment we were in, they recognised the young players on the pitch, and they stuck with the guys and got us over the line.

‘In the end they’re putting pressure on because it’s 1-0, but overall we played quite well, they had some moments as well but today was about getting the victory.

‘There’s a lot of young players and the moment we’re in in terms of form we’ll park it as three valuable points for us and a spirited performance with a lot of character. It’s a nice reward for the boys and it gives us a shot in the arm for the weekend.’

Benoit Badiashile made his Chelsea debut and Carney Chukwuemeka his full debut

‘It was Benoit’s first Premier League game, he did really well. Koulibaly has had a lot of football recently, and the turnaround from Thursday night to today was short. He passed the ball well, when he needed to head it out he did, he’s obviously adapting to the Premier League. He’s going to get better and better, but the first game was very positive.

‘It was Carney’s first start too, so when you put that all into context it’s a good day for us and allows us to carry on building.’

Mudryk’s signing was announced during the game and he was unveiled during the break

‘He’s a young player with a big future. He has exciting quality in the final third, very fast and direct, attacks the backline, can go in wide areas but also affects the goal. He’s a really exciting player and I think our supporters will like him.’

Potter provided an injury update on Denis Zakaria

‘Denis is going to be [out for] four weeks, top of his quad, so that’s a blow for us. Hopefully he can be sooner.’