Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo has defended the flamboyant playing style of David Luiz.

The Italian is adamant that his centre-back does not need to change his style to succeed in the Barclays Premier League.

"You need to see both sides," Di Matteo said of Luiz in the Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle. "On one hand we have a fantastic player that can decide games for you and on the other hand you have to take into account that everybody can make mistakes.

"But we want our defenders to play and be involved when we attack so I know more focus is put on the mistakes.

"But he scored a fantastic free-kick against Nordsjaelland and other important goals for us.

"You need to be able to take the best out of the players and I would never take his qualities or restrict qualities that a player had."

When asked if he had any plans to curb Luiz's attacking instincts, Di Matteo replied "no".

"He is a fantastic player for us," added the Blues boss. "We are working on the fact that in certain moments maybe its better to play simple but he is a player with great qualities that has decided many games for us as well."