Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that he has been playing crossbar challenge with Mykhailo Mudryk as he bids to build up the winger's confidence.
Mudryk moved to the Blues from Shakhtar Donetsk in January in a deal that could be worth up to £89m but he has yet to score his first goal for the club. In his 22 games, the winger has only been able to register two assists.
Pochettino is now working one-to-one with the 22-year-old as he bids to bring Chelsea out of their recent slump. The club have won just one game this season and face Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, before returning to Premier League action against Fulham this weekend.
Pochettino insists that playing crossbar challenge with Mudryk is key to building his confidence. He said: With Mudryk, I like to play sometimes to [hit] the crossbar from outside the box.
He said to me, 'I don't want to play anymore with you because you always win.' I said 'yes, because I have the belief, and the balance between belief and quality I know very well because I'm 50 years old. You're still young and you need to know yourself'.
Today [Tuesday] was the first day we draw, because I always won. Now you start to believe in yourself, believe in your quality. If not, it's difficult to balance belief and quality. Mudryk will hope to be involved against Brighton on Wednesday.
Source: goal