As Thomas Tuchel made a beeline for each of his players in the driving north London rain at the end of a hard-fought London derby victory over Tottenham, there was one player in particular he wanted a word with him.

Heading down the tunnel together, Mason Mount and his new boss were already in analysis mode following a win that ought to have been made more comfortable given the number of chances created by the visitors.

Yet from 18 goal attempts overall, the Blues mustered just two on target; Jorginho’s converted penalty kick and a left-footed effort from Mount that was pushed away by Hugo Lloris.

There were others that came and went for the England midfielder, another on his left side dragged wide from the edge of the box and one from just inside the 18-yard area that was blocked when he might have taken it on first-time rather than take a touch.

Those moments were clearly still at the forefront of his mind as he exited the arena in N17, despite what was a man of the match performance.

‘I just said to him that I should have had one or two definitely,’ Mount said of his exchange with Tuchel as they left the field.

‘We spoke about it at half-time as well, just to be clinical and go with a purpose to score. I didn’t have my shooting boots on so that’s something I’ll work on during the week. It’s been a bit different for me playing slightly deeper recently and to be up in the box a bit more means I need to work on that finishing but hopefully it will come.’

It is that self-awareness and dedication to improvement that makes Mount such a coachable player, as well a humble character in the dressing room. Despite the ultimately slender margin of victory in the derby, he felt it was a deserved three points and a controlled performance on the road.

‘I had a couple of chances and we had a couple of others where we should be way more clinical in front of goal,’ he continued.

‘That’s something we need to work on, myself included, but we had good possession throughout the game. It’s always tough to come here and control it throughout but I thought we played very well.’

Tuchel tweaked the system slightly so that Mount operated higher and more centrally, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner utilised as split strikers. The new role required new responsibilities to relish, while the team’s tactical flexibility continues to offer the element of surprise to opponents.

‘It’s different for some of us, especially for me playing as a bit of a false nine and then dropping into the number 10 to help the midfield out,’ he explained. ‘This is the style the manager wants us to play so we’re all learning and it’s been working well so far.

‘It’s obviously a positive for us and it makes it difficult for any team we play against because they don’t know what we’re going to come with. We’re working on it day-in, day-out in training, trying different formations and tactics, staying focused on getting better and getting those wins.’