'Belle Silva is Chelsea's player of the year', jokes talkSPORT pundit after win

Mauricio Pochettino went in to the fourth round replay against an Aston Villa side aiming for the Champions League with his back against the wall, and in what many viewed as a risky move he decided to bench his most experienced player in Silva.

But Chelsea responded to their dismal defeats against Liverpool and Wolves with what Pochettino labelled as their best performance of the season as they secured a 3-1 victory against the Villans.

Goals from Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson put the Blues 2-0 up at half time before Enzo Fernandez's superb free-kick put the tie beyond doubt on 54 minutes.

Silva was brought on in the 81st minute so was on the pitch when Moussa Diaby scored a consolation goal for the home side.

The omission of Silva from the starting XI came amid his wife's social media posts appearing to call for Pochettino to be sacked in Chelsea's previous match, which saw them convincingly lose to Wolves last weekend.

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Pochettino insists the decision to bench the 39-year-old was purely football based having held clear-the-air talks with his player about his wife's online words.

But Saunders joked that Belle Silva, who has since apologised for her actions, has benefited the team and should be in line for the big individual award at Stamford Bridge.

Jamie O'Hara began on The Sports Bar: "Oh, by the way, Thiago Silva... he actually did you a favour tonight or his wife did you a favour.

"Because Pochettino's left him out the team and you have more legs at the back and look more solid. It allowed Ben Chilwell and Malo Gusto to play higher up the pitch.

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"Maybe it's time for Silva to sit on the bench."

Saunders interjected: "There's an argument that his wife's their player of the year!"

It's been a disappointing season for Chelsea despite reaching the Carabao Cup final as they sit 11th in the Premier League.

The performance on Wednesday night suggests the future may look more rosy, however, former Chelsea player Jason Cundy warns there may be more difficult days ahead.

"I don't want to harp on about it but we are still a very young team. We're buying potential," Cundy said.

"That sort of performance, don't expect to see it every week. You demand it, you want it, but you can't expect that every week from this team.

"That's the level, that's what we set ourselves, that's who we can be and if we're going to get anywhere this season then we're going to need to see more of those performances."