Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has admitted that having a sense of trust for every member of his squad was the secret behind his decision to make five changes to his starting line-up for this evening's tussle with Everton.
After Thursday evening's 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield, Tuchel was expected to name a similar team in a bid to keep their impressive run of recent form going.
However, the German opted to throw a spanner into the works, making a total of five changes to his starting line-up, with Antonio Rudiger and Mason Mount dropped to the bench.
As well as Rudiger and Mount, the latter of whom netted the winner against Liverpool last week, being forced to drop to the bench, Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech were also named among the substitutes.
In their places, Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz and Callum Hudson-Odoi were all handed recalls.
While it was clear that Tuchel had rotation and a desire to keep his players fresh on his mind, the German has opened up on his decision to change almost half of his team after such an impressive win at Anfield, insisting those who have come into the team this evening deserve their opportunity to impress.
Tuchel told BT Sport: "It’s a big match again, we’ve made some changes, fresh legs and fresh minds and we want to show the group that we trust everybody, they deserve it.
"So we prepare for a tough match."
As well as still having the ambition of trying to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League this term, Tuchel also has the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League to think about, meaning he will need to call upon every member of his squad in the coming weeks.
The Blues, following this weekend's trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United, face Atletico Madrid in the second-leg of their last-16 clash in the Champions League next Wednesday evening before welcoming Sheffield United to Stamford Bridge for an FA Cup quarter-final showdown on Sunday, March 21.
