Mauricio Pochettino sends public message to Chelsea winger Noni Madueke amid lack of first-team opportunities

Mauricio Pochettino has hinted at Noni Madueke needing to up his standards in training to get more minutes.

The London-born Chelsea winger joined the club in January, signing from PSV for £28.5million on a seven-and-a-half year contract.

He's netted two goals in 20 appearances for the club, but injuries and a lack of regular minutes has seen him feature less and less as the season has gone on.

The 21-year-old has made eight appearances this term, starting two of those games, with Cole Palmer typically slotting in on the right wing in recent weeks.

Now, Pochettino has hinted what Madueke needs to do to get more time on the pitch.

Speaking at his press conference before Chelsea's game against Wolves on Sunday, he said: «From the beginning of the season he was involved then not involved and suffered some injuries and problems.

»Noni is in a position where there is massive competition and he needs to increase his level.

«He was injured and now recovered and maybe will be involved in the next games.»

The winger — who was on Crystal Palace, Tottenham and PSV's books as a youngster and also won the 2021 Under-21 European Championships with England this year — joined the Blues after netting 20 goals in 80 appearances for PSV.

After 12 appearances and one goal against Arsenal for Chelsea last season, he's had a mixed campaign this time round.

Madueke missed all of the pre-season Summer Series due to a hamstring issue and was absent for the last three of Chelsea's Premier League games, with Pochettino pointing to a 'minor issue' after the 3-2 win over Brighton.

The Blues beat Newcastle on penalties with the game locked at 1-1 after normal time to advance to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

Chelsea's league form, on the other