Enzo Maresca has demanded that Noni Madueke is “much, much, much better” despite his starring role in Chelsea’s recent win.
The winger scored a goal and set up the 5-1 away win on Wednesday evening.
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However, his work ethic was questioned by the Blues boss after the game.
Madueke spiced up to restore the visitors' lead after Joe Aribo canceled out Axel Disasi's opener.
The England international scored a goal before half-time, doubling the lead.
However, he was sent off in the 72nd minute and his successor added even more sparkle to the score.
Maresca was not entirely satisfied with the 22-year-old's performance.
After the victory, the Italian explained: “Noni can do a lot more. When he’s scoring and assisting and being happy, he starts to slow down a little bit.”
“The reason he didn’t play is because of the way he trained.
“If he scores a goal, he has to keep trying to score and provide an assist. Noni needs to understand that he has to work harder and can be much, much, much better.”
Madueke's performances at St Mary's have taken his season tally to five goals and two assists in 13 Premier League games.
This comes after he also became a supplier in the win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
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After a second win in four days, Madueke told talkSPORT's Ian Abrahams: “I could have easily scored a hat-trick today.”
“But a goal and an assist are okay, I’ll accept that. I will go into the next game and try to help my team.”
As for playing under Maresca, he added: “He was great for me.”
“Not just in terms of the things I like to do, put in quotes, scoring goals and beating players, but also in the less nice parts of football, the defensive part, the reliability.”
“He helped me a lot with that, so credit goes to him.”
With Wednesday's victory, Maresca's team narrowed the gap to the leaders dropped to seven points after the Reds drew 3-3 at Newcastle.
Meanwhile, they were able to reduce the deficit even further on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues visit Tottenham in a London derby before traveling to Kazakhstan to face Astana in the middle of the week.
