Graham Potter has suggested that Hakim Ziyech’s superb form at the World Cup is no guarantee the Morocco forward will earn a place in Chelsea’s first team. The 29-year-old starred for the Atlas Lions in Qatar as they became the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, despite his barely featuring for his club in the Premier League this season. Ziyech has played just 148 minutes so far for Chelsea and made his only start of the campaign under the previous manager, Thomas Tuchel, back in August, having been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in the summer. But while Potter said he had been in touch with the former Ajax forward, he warned that Ziyech would have to be patient for his opportunity with so much competition in Chelsea’s squad. “We know his qualities, we like him as a player, he plays between the lines with fantastic quality as we saw in the World Cup,” said Potter. “At Chelsea there are always good players who aren’t in the starting XI and have to be patient. I was delighted for him, kept in touch with him over the World Cup. Delighted for him that he got the game-time, delighted for him that he helped his team, he’s a good guy and he’s got quality.” Chelsea signed off before the World Cup with three successive defeats to leave them in eighth and Potter is hoping to see quick improvements from his side. Yet with Ziyech and Croatia’s Mateo Kovacic the only players from the club’s 12-strong contingent who were in Qatar still to return, he said it could take a while before the tournament’s ultimate impact is revealed. “We’ve given all the guys who have been in the World Cup some time off, so they’ve had a bit of a break, time with their families,” Potter said. “Obviously it’s not so easy to get the balance right. We’re all learning because it’s never happened before. So we don’t know how that’s going to go. I think you’ve got to constantly evaluate the players and assess. “Because you might get two or three months down the line and think: ‘Hang on a minute, we need to do something here, just to refresh, because we don’t know how that’s going to look like, in the future, long term, the effects of a World Cup.’”