has singled out the ‘fantastic’ Lewis Hall and insisted there was ‘a lot to like’ from ’s performance as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup against .
18-year-old Hall was brought into the Blues for just his second senior start on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium.
While second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez saw the Premier League champions secure their place in the fourth round of the competition, the Chelsea teenager was his side’s best performer on the night.
Consistently threatening with driving runs down the left, Hall was unlucky not to get on the score sheet, seeing a first-half effort saved by Stefan Ortega after expertly feinting inside his man.
A second-half effort was also kept out by the City goalkeeper, the hosts’ man of the match on the night.
Reacting to Hall’s performance, Potter told Sky Sports: “Lewis Hall did brilliantly. Fantastic performance. Great quality great effort. You can see he can take the ball, He took responsibility.
‘Putting the ball in the net is the hardest thing and that’s all he didn’t do today but everything he did do was fantastic.’
Defeat to City means Chelsea have now lost three of their last four games, with their only win in that run against Dinamo Zagreb in a Champions League dead rubber.
Despite early elimination from the EFL Cup, Potter was upbeat over his side’s performance.
‘[There was] a lot to like’ he said. ‘We created some big chances and attacked well. We weren’t perfect, but did a lot right in the game.
‘It was a pleasing performance, a step forward in terms of how we want to play. I’m disappointed with the result but happy with the performance.
‘We had some big chances. You won’t get many bigger ones here. We had big courage and personality to try to play out. It is not easy here. The boys showed quality and courage. I liked a lot of what we did today.’
Chelsea now face a daunting trip to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United on Saturday in what is their final match before the World Cup.
, .
,  and .
