Ahead of this evening’s mouth-watering meeting between fourth and fifth in the Premier League, Christian Pulisic has been discussing the impact of Graham Potter and his belief that good friend Reece James will return better than ever from his current knee injury.

Pulisic made a positive half-hour cameo appearance off the bench during our goalless draw at Brentford in midweek and scored on his most recent start, our 3-0 victory against Wolves earlier in the month.

However, the USA international has played just 291 minutes for the Blues in all competitions so far this season and is eager to establish himself as a more regular feature of Potter’s resurgent side, which will require patience and adaptability.

‘It’s been really positive,’ he said of the first six weeks under the new head coach. ‘We’ve seen some good results and some very positive things that we can take forward and continue to push this season.

‘Whenever there are adjustments in the game, we just have to give our best in whatever position, whatever formation and with whatever we’re doing. It’s just about sticking together as a team. That’s our number one message - fighting to win the game together.

‘We’re not far off at all. In recent weeks, we’ve made a lot of changes to put ourselves in a good position and the results have started to come with the performances we’ve put in regularly. It’s about being consistent now and continuing that.

‘The way we’re moving now, there’s only good things to come so we’ll just continue with this mindset. It’s what this club does well and continues the fight to win trophies. We’re keeping that same mentality.’

Potter’s early days have focused on tweaks rather than wholesale changes to the team’s approach and preparation, though there is one factor at Cobham that Pulisic notes as particularly different under the new head coach.

‘The number one thing is we’re training in bigger spaces now, which is a bit more like the game,’ he added. ‘That means some longer runs and that’s the number one thing I’d say I’ve noticed.’

One player not involved in those recent sessions is Reece James, who suffered a knee injury in the Champions League win at AC Milan that is expected to keep him sidelined until after the World Cup.

Pulisic concedes the defender’s absence is a big loss for the Blues and England, who the American is set to come up against in the group stage in Qatar, however he is adamant that the 22-year-old will come back stronger than ever.

‘We never like to see it,’ he continued. ‘Reece has been unbelievable with the way he’s been playing recently for club and country. He’s obviously a really close friend of mine so you hate to see him go down but I know that’s not the end of him.

‘We all know it. He’s going to continue to fight, get himself ready as soon as he can and when he’s back he’ll be flying again.’

While Chelsea are unbeaten in six matches under Potter, tonight’s opponents United have mustered a five-game undefeated run of their own since their 6-3 loss in the Manchester derby at the start of October, with their midweek win over Tottenham strengthening the progress made under Erik ten Hag.

Pulisic knows these big clashes are fraught with danger but he is relishing the crackling atmosphere and tension that comes with such decisive matches.

‘It’s never an easy game,’ he said. ‘They have strong players, there’s no doubt about that. They’ve had ups and downs just as we have but whenever we play against them, they’re always at their best and ready to go. We’re expecting a very solid team and a good match.

‘For us, it’s about sticking to our principles and what we’ve done well for so long, staying strong defensively. Recently that has looked really good so we just have to find the balance of that and use our attacking options to try and break them down.

‘These are exactly the games you want to be in, playing against a top opponent at Stamford Bridge. There’s nothing like it when the fans are behind us pushing us on.’