Antonio Conte praises 'best' Tiemoue Bakayoko performance for Chelsea in Huddersfield win

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has hailed midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko after the under-fire France international produced arguably the most impressive performance of his Blues career in the win at Huddersfield Town at the John Smith's Stadium.

The 23-year-old has endured an uncertain start to life with the Premier League champions which was underlined when he was withdrawn at half-time during the 1-0 defeat to West Ham United on Saturday (9 December).

But the ex-Monaco enforcer returned to Chelsea's starting XI for the trip to Huddersfield and played a key role in the champions returning to winning ways.

Bakayoko netted just his third Chelsea goal after Willian and Eden Hazard capitalised on Jonas Lossl's poor clearance to set him clear on goal.

The lead soon doubled when Marcos Alonso's cross found the head of Willian, who headed in before half time. Pedro stroked home the third after the break to confirm the win which takes Chelsea level on points with Manchester United ahead of their clash with Bournemouth.

Conte has previously claimed that the decision to substitute Bakayoko against West Ham was purely tactical and reiterated that claim before lavishing praise on the Ligue 1 winner.

"He played a good game tonight and I am very happy for him," he told reporters, according to Football.London. "He is 23 years old and is adapting himself in our idea of football.

"Maybe tonight I saw the best performance from Baka and I started to see what I ask and what I want. To find the right passing between the line, be solid and I am very pleased for him and it will have improved his performance.

"I am not worried about him. He is showing me to have the right desire and will to improve and try to be better.

"I want to be very clear, after the first half I decided to make this substitution, but it was tactical and I explained in the changing room.

"It was only tactical, not that he was playing bad but that I changed him with Pedro and to be more offensive because West Ham played with 11 players behind the ball.

"If I don't trust him tonight he doesn't start, in a big game with a lot of problems, it means I trust him and all my players. In the last game we changed a few players."