Chelsea's Guus Hiddink revealed he was continuing to take a cautious approach with Eden Hazard.

The Belgian playmaker came off the bench for the third straight match in Wednesday night's 0-0 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road following his late show against Arsenal and his impressive spell in the FA Cup win over MK Dons on the weekend.

Hazard replaced Nemanja Matic on 73 minutes and was decent in his second-half cameo but Hiddink says he will not be rushed as he returns to full fitness from a groin problem that has hampered him since early January.

"Eden played in the FA Cup for a longer period. He is coming back from a difficult time with two injuries," said Hiddink.

"We are being careful with him as we have a lot of games coming up now.

"I am happy with the way he played when he came on. The judgement is when to bring him on.

"We were in control and then we tried to get him to make the final punch which we almost did. For himself it's good to go step by step and we have a lot of games coming up when we need all the players."

Chelsea next meet Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as they look to improve their current standing of 13th.