Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho hailed Andre Schurrle after his sublime hat-trick beat Fulham in the west London derby.
The German showed a ruthless ability in front goal, finishing superbly three times in 16 minutes as the Blues ran out 3-1 winners to stay top of the Premier League.
Shurrle, 23, was making just his eighth start since joining the club from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer and Mourinho insists the forward is still learning.
But he said: “These finishes were something I expect from him.
“I expect from him cold blood [in front of goal]. When he is there, the goal doesn’t become very small for him. He is cool and he is a finisher.
“He sees the keeper and he can chip him, or he can turn the keeper, or score with his right foot, or his left foot, and I expect this from him.
“But he is in a learning process in relation to the Premier League. He needs to understand what the Premier League is and to experiment, and it is difficult for him to play 90 minutes for us because he is doing things he never did before in his life.”
Schurrle’s goals meant Chelsea extended their lead at the summit to four points following Arsenal’s defeat at Stoke.
But Mourinho again dismissed suggestions his side were favourites for the title.
“We are there [at the top] occasionally but if Man City win their two matches in hand they are top,” he said.
“You can say we have four points over Arsenal and Liverpool, but with City we may have the same points.”
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This post was last modified on 03/03/2014