Thomas Tuchel says Chelsea retain faith and trust in struggling forwards Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
Both players were substituted with 25 minutes left in the 2-0 Champions League win over Porto in Seville on Wednesday.
Tuchel said after the quarter-final first leg that the two players had not given him what he was looking for.
But ahead of the short trip to play Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, he insisted both players remain a key part of his plans and that his substitutions were specific only to that match.
Tuchel accepts Werner is lacking in confidence but does not have any concerns over Havertz.
Werner has been directly involved in more Premier League goals this season than any other Chelsea player (11, with five goals and six assists).
However, the Germany striker has scored with just one of his last 42 shots in the competition, a strike against Newcastle United in February.
Look at the games Porto played in the Champions League, said Tuchel in defence of Werner and Havertz.
If you can show me any nice, fluid and pretty games of any opponent we can talk again. I did not find it.
They make your life very tough, especially for offensive players. They went through the group with 13 points. You can ask in the group how easy it was to play against them.
They did not have the easiest task up front. They had a big impact defensively and they worked hard for us, both Kai and Timo.
It was difficult for them to find spaces and create something, so we changed after 65 minutes but we will not lose faith and trust.
We accept sometimes it s hard sometimes to have a big impact. Maybe Timo misses a bit of confidence in his finishing but Kai, I feel, is very self-confident.
There are no bigger concerns. It was just in this game we tried to change the momentum.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Chelsea are yet to lose on the road under Tuchel in the Premier League (W3 D2).
The Palace clash comes after a dramatic week for the Blues, with the Porto win following up a shock 5-2 home reverse against West Brom.
Tuchel is keen to ensure his players do not get too up or down based on one result.
He added: It s my job to learn every day and from every game, from every situation we have to face.
I don t have a big conclusion after the two games with the down and up we had in terms of results.
It s important to share experiences and make my experiences with the team. It s the first time we lost, a big loss, an unexpected loss in a weird game.
We have a lot of positives together so we needed to adapt and react to it.
I m very happy we bounced back immediately. We were unlucky in some situations in the game. It s important for us now that we went through this.
Hopefully we can start a winning streak again.
Palace have kept five clean sheets in the Premier League at Selhurst Park since the turn of the year, two more than in the entirety of 2020.
But manager Roy Hodgson has lost six consecutive Premier League matches against Chelsea.
The only opponent he has lost seven consecutive games against as a manager in the competition is Tottenham in a run that lasted between 2011 and 2019.
