Chelsea booked our place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a relatively straightforward win over Championship side Blackburn Rovers at Stamford Bridge, with Benoit Badiashile slotting home from close range in the first half and Raheem Sterling making the victory safe with a lovely curling shot after the break.

Speaking after the game, Pochettino underlined that he still wants to see his team become more clinical in the final third, but felt it was an important night for the Blues as we got back to winning ways following the weekend's defeat to Brentford, and welcomed two returning players back to the starting line-up from injury.

'After Saturday it was important for us to win the game and get through to the next round of the competition,' said Pochettino. 'There were too many chances, we need to be more clinical, but that you cannot change from Saturday to today. It is about with time bringing confidence.

'But there were many positive things too. It was important to stay in and go through in this competition that is important for us, building confidence. Players like Benoit Badiashile and Reece James had the opportunity to play one hour. That was important. I was talking to my staff and saying it looked like a pre-season game in November, because of this situation and players coming into the team.

'So there were many positive things too. Now we need to look forward to the next round, but first to prepare for the next two games, which are so important before the international break.'

Pochettino discussed the importance of captain Reece James' return to the team in particular after playing the first hour against Blackburn...

'We were talking throughout the game. The plan was to check at half-time how he felt and was. After the 50th minute he started to feel tired and we were checking in the second half. He was a little bit tired and we needed to be careful how we managed him.

'At that moment we decided to change and protect him. It is important we are careful not to go back to play 90 minutes and take some risks. We cannot avoid 100 per cent the risk but the plan is to go in little by little.

'It's really important, especially if he’s your captain, that he can stay fit and can play and help the team. He’s an important player for us, an amazing player, for me he’s one of the best full-backs in the world. It’s unlucky that we only played with him 70 minutes against Liverpool in the first game and then and it was until today that he can play from the start.

'Of course the temptation now is to say go and play 90 minutes but we need to be careful and little by little he is going to get fit and able to cope with the amount of games.'

Our head coach also responded to suggestions Chelsea can start thinking about going all the way in the Carabao Cup after reaching the last eight...

'I think so. We need to think that this is an important competition for us because we are not in Europe and that should be an opportunity for us, like in the Premier League and in January when we start the FA Cup.

'Of course we need to think that we can win this competition.'