I never doubted Dewsbury-Hall at Chelsea, insists Maresca

Enzo Maresca insisted that he “didn’t have any doubts” about Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall during the midfielder’s time at Chelsea.

After the pair won the Championship together with Leicester City, Maresca brought Dewsbury-Hall to Stamford Bridge after being appointed as Chelsea boss.

Dewsbury-Hall made just 13 appearances in the Premier League for Chelsea, but scored four goals and registered two assists in 15 Conference League appearances on their way to winning the trophy.

The 27-year-old also featured in five Club World Cup games, scoring in the last 16 against Benfica before coming on as a substitute in the final as they beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0.

Dewsbury-Hall is Everton's joint-leading Premier League scorer this season with four goals. He has netted three goals in his last four games, as many as he had scored in his previous 62 combined for Leicester, Chelsea and the Toffees.

Although their time together in London did not go as expected, Maresca did not put that down to a lack of quality from Dewsbury-Hall.

“I didn't have any doubt about Kiernan,” said Maresca ahead of Chelsea’s league match against Everton on Saturday.

“I know that the more he's going to play, he is going to be better. But with us, he was good all season, working hard the time that he played.

“He was doing well. But here we have also more players. So the competition was a big competition for him, and no doubt that in the moment that he was able to play more games.”

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 30 Premier League home games against Everton (W17 D13).

It’s their longest unbeaten home run against an opponent in their league history, while only at Leeds have Everton had a longer run without a win (36 from 1953 to 2001).