Mauricio Pochettino highlighted and praised the ‘massive effort’ produced by his Chelsea players to overcome Leeds United at Stamford Bridge and secure their passage into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

The Blues had fallen behind in the fifth-round contest when Mateo Joseph opened the scoring after just eight minutes. However, cool finishes from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk ensured Pochettino’s side led at the interval.

Chelsea had to respond again, however, after Joseph’s second of the evening titled the tie towards another 30 minutes. But as the contest moved into stoppage time, Conor Gallagher collected a pass from Enzo Fernandez and fired home.

“We needed this result,” said Pochettino, adding: “It wasn’t a great performance. Of course, credit to Leeds, they are a team that is full of confidence, is a very strong team, and is doing fantastic in the Championship and are near the top of the table.

“It was tough for us, even more when you concede after a few minutes. But I think the character we showed after this situation is something to learn for the team and, in the end, we’re so happy. We avoided extra time, scored at the end, and are in the quarter-final which was our objective.

“It’s always tough when you lose a final in extra time and you have only 72 hours to recover. That’s always difficult. Today the effort was massive again and I must say thank you to the players for that massive effort.”