Chelsea winger Noni Madueke says new manager Mauricio Pochettino is incredibly tough and has backed the Argentine manager to bring the best out of the squad they have.

Chelsea have had a rough start to the season and ended the first four games of the campaign with just one win, two losses and one draw in the league.

There have been calls for the former Tottenham manager to tighten up the attack and fine-tune the squad when they return from the international break with the first game being against Bournemouth this weekend.

Forward Noni Madueke who was signed in January for a fee of £ 30million said: “He’s tough with me, but I probably need that. He’s transparent as well which is really important, to know where you stand and what he expects from you. He knows when to be really tough with me and when to put an arm around me. I can’t fault him.

“He’s a really good man manager. He’s created a culture where we are brothers off the pitch. It helps we have a young squad so we are with each other a lot anyway. We are lucky to have him.”

Chelsea have spent almost £1billion in the last three transfer windows but their results have been mid-table at best and they finished the season in 12th-placed last time, their worst finish to a league campaign in almost two decades.

Injuries haven't helped with new signing Christopher Nkunku injured in the last game of pre-season while the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka and captain Reece James are all on the treatment table.