Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says Saul Niguez is growing in importance to the team.

The Blues saw off Chesterfield at the weekend in the FA Cup, with Saul playing his part in the 5-1 victory, ahead of a midweek trip to Tottenham for the second leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final. Chelsea lead 2-0 on aggregate from the first meeting at Stamford Bridge.

"I think he will be an important player for us and I hope so as well," Tuchel said, when asked of Saul's importance to the team right now.

"The game against Tottenham was a huge step forward for Saul and he showed what he can do with his abilities.

"Against Chesterfield he was part of a strong squad. Okay, it was against a fifth division side so there was no need for us to be overran in midfield but he still did well with his performance.

"I see more confidence in him with each game, he is in good shape and his adaptation to the way we play has gone further from before.

"You can see this in his game now. He is more open, he understands the language better now and these are all important things to consider when talking about Saul and how much he has improved recently.

"He is having much more impact on games than he was doing at the beginning of the season and this is very important because I'm convince we will need every player to compete in every competition from now until the end of the season, especially at the moment where we are playing every three days."