Christopher Nkunku and João Félix are proving themselves the men for the small occasion at Chelsea this season.

That may be slightly unfair on plucky League Two club Morecambe and especially their goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne, but Nkunku and Felix cannot stop scoring against minnows.

Nkunku became Chelsea’s joint-top scorer with Cole Palmer thanks to his 13th goal of the season against Morecambe, who are 91st in the Football League.

He should really be leading the way on his own, having also had a penalty saved by Burgoyne, but the numbers tell only one side of the story.

Other than Morecambe, Nkunku’s goals have come against — wait for it — Servette, Noah, Heidenheim, Gent, Barrow, Panathinaikos, Southampton and Bournemouth.

Nkunku can rightly argue that he has not been given much of a chance against better opposition, but he may well be the biggest flat-track bully in town right now.

The France international’s latest goal against lesser opposition helped Chelsea into the fourth round of the FA Cup, as first-choice striker Nicolas Jackson watched from the substitutes’ bench.

Félix added Morecambe to his list of small-time victims, which also includes Noah, Panathinaikos, and Wolves, with two late strikes that he barely celebrated.

The Portuguese, who once cost Atletico Madrid £113million, now has seven goals to his name this season. But he will remain second choice to Palmer, who was given a rest on Saturday, when the bigger tests come around.

“They didn’t knock on the door [to ask to play], they didn’t ask anything,” said Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca. “But they don’t need to ask.

“Two games ago, against Ipswich, we started with João and Christo. Previously we started some games with them. They got a chance already in the Premier League. It doesn’t mean if they play in the Premier League they have to score or assist.”

It took Enzo Maresca’s team until the 39th minute to break the deadlock through Tosin Adarabioyo’s shot that deflected off Callum Jones and wrong-footed Burgoyne.

Burgoyne had brilliantly saved Nkunku’s penalty before that, but was helpless to prevent him scoring Chelsea’s second goal after the break.

It took a great stop from Burgoyne to stop Renato Veiga finding the net, but Nkunku was first to the rebound to boost his numbers.

Nkunku has been linked with a move away from Chelsea this month and any club that looks at his numbers will be impressed — just as long as they do not dwell too long on the quality of opposition.

Tosin fired in his second and Chelsea’s third with a 70th-minute shot from 25 yards, before Félix scored two quick-fire goals.

Chelsea have proved themselves to be experts at avoiding potential banana skins, winning 36 of their past 37 FA Cup ties against lower league opposition.

For Morecambe, Ben Tollitt caused Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen a couple of nervous moments and substitute Hallam Hope squandered a wonderful opportunity to grab a late consolation for the visitors.

Morecambe manager Derek Adams said: “When you take that our wage bill is just over £1million and Chelsea have spent £1billion, it doesn’t take Einstein to work out the gulf is huge. It’s a huge gap between both clubs and it’s only going to get bigger, but I thought our team acquitted themselves very well.”

Chelsea will be pleased that Reece James and Romeo Lavia made their comebacks from injury with 45 minutes each.

James made his first start since the draw with Manchester United on Nov 3, while Lavia’s last appearance had been against Tottenham Hotspur on Dec 8.

“The idea is to slowly build the right condition,” said Maresca, who said Noni Madueke was not in the squad game after feeling unwell on Friday.

“Especially for Reece, we have to be a bit more careful. The good thing is they both played 45 minutes and finished well without any problem. We can start to help them and bring them to the right condition.”

The victory, albeit against League Two opposition, was Chelsea’s first in five games and should give them some momentum heading into Tuesday night’s Premier League visit of Bournemouth.