Pulisic on his ‘smart’ return to Chelsea squad and his false nine role

Christian Pulisic

has talked about his “smart” return to

’s starting line-up and his new false nine role.

The United States international was out of action for the first two months of the campaign because of his ankle injury but he recovered gradually and made his way back into Thomas Tuchel’s squad in the last few weeks.

Pulisic featured in the Blues’ 3-0 victory over

at the weekend and was in the starting XI against

in the

on Tuesday.

He played 72 minutes for his side during their thumping 4-0 win and was trusted to lead the line.

"

It has been a long couple of months,"

the 23-year-old said post-match.

"It is tough to not be able to play and doing what I love and help my team.

"I am thrilled to be back and it is great to be back within the team. I would say, as far as fitness, I am close to where I want to be but that I can still improve and that comes with minutes.

"I played it quite smart in how I came back with not too much too soon. It has been really good and I am happy with the way I feel right now."

Pulisic also talked about how he adjusted to a new role against the Bianconeri:

"As far as the false nine role, I think I can play in a lot of the attacking positions within this team.

"I was in a slightly different role. I am not on the ball as much as I usually am or able to use some of my strengths but I think it is a position that I can play.

"I can create a lot of space for my team-mates and I am happy to play there as well."

Trevor Chalobah, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi helped Chelsea secure a victory before Timo Werner climbed off the bench to score the last goal at Stamford Bridge.

Pulisic is not surprised by the three academy graduates’ contribution as they all started the season on the right foot.

"

I think we already knew what strengths the Chelsea academy has,"

said the American.

"It is not a surprise because these guys have been doing it for a while now and we have a lot of good players in this team, a lot of depth and we are happy with where we are right now."

Asked about the Blues’ latest Champions League display, which helped them reserve a spot in the Round of 16, Pulisic continued:

"It was a very strong performance. I am really happy with the way we started the match. We just put so much pressure on them.

"We made it very difficult for them and got the goals at the right times. It was a really strong performance and an important three points."

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