Thomas Tuchel insists he won't criticise his fringe players 'too harshly' after Chelsea's tight victory over Barnsley on Thursday.
Tuchel made a number of changes to the side which beat Sheffield United last week.
The likes of Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic failed to have an impact in the 1-0 win at Oakwell.
But Tuchel was understanding of their predicament when speaking after the game.
"It wasn't fair for everybody that they haven't started," Tuchel said. "I've said before the match and at half time, we can not expect too much of ourselves.
"We have to cope with the quality of the opponent, the role that we were clear favourites and they had nothing to use, we have to cope with the lack of quality from the pitch.
"We arrive here with many changes and we lack a bit of rhythm and self-confidence. We can clearly do better but I don't want to judge everybody too harshly.
"It was important to try hard to be better. There are things to improve but we have the win and can continue."