The Blues kicked off our 2025/26 FA Cup campaign with an emphatic 5-1 victory away at Charlton Athletic, even if we had to be patient for our dominance to convert into goals, before the floodgates opened at The Valley in the second half.

For his first game in the dugout, Rosenior made eight changes from the side he had watched from the stands at Fulham in midweek. When asked about one of those introduced – Jorrel Hato – after the win, our new head coach was quick to praise the whole team, after their demonstration of the strength in depth he now has at his disposal.

‘I know a lot of these players, they're outstanding young players,’ he said. ‘It's been a really, really good start for Jorrel, but a really good start for all of them last night with me.

‘I believe in this group. I believe in all of them and if we want to have a really strong season, we need to use them. I need to put faith into them, and they repaid my faith yesterday. They've given me real cause for optimism for the future.’

He didn’t pass up the opportunity to praise Hato though, going on to highlight the Dutchman’s impressive performance at both ends of the pitch, as he roamed from his defensive position to contribute to our attack and smashed in a brilliant opening goal just before half-time.

‘He's 19, I saw him play at Fulham, I was so impressed with him then,’ continued Rosenior. ‘He's taken that form on to another level yesterday.

‘Not just in terms of his goal. I felt his defensive attributes were top. The way that he settled the game down in possession, the way he defended one-v-one and still had the energy and speed to get forward to help us in attack.’

There were also words of praise from Rosenior for the players who made up that attack from the start, as Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu all came into the line-up, and the Spaniard netting our third goal.

‘I was delighted with the front three,’ Rosenior added. ‘I felt Ale kept going in his one-v-ones. I felt Ale is so close to scoring a fantastic goal, he kept going one-for-one on the side.

‘Marc Guiu was magnificent, Guiu was top. His positioning, his pressing, he deserved his goal. He was always in the right position where we needed him to be tactically.

‘I felt Jamie was very good. He looked like he was going at the defenders, he looked like he could create in a lot of moments.

‘So a lot of real positives and a good start.’

Here's hoping that good start continues when we return to the pitch at Stamford Bridge in another knockout competition in midweek, hosting Arsenal in the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening.