Pat Nevin believes Chelsea coach Antonio Conte could have a 'revelation' on his hands if he gives Michy Batshuayi the chance to play more this season.
Chelsea signed Batshuayi from Marseille for £33million in the summer, and the striker initially enjoyed a positive start to life at Stamford Bridge as he came on as a substitute in the club's opening Premier League games against West Ham and Watford and made the difference.
Against the Hammers, Batshuayi set up Diego Costa's winning goal in the 89th minute before he scored his first top-flight goal against Watford the following week at Vicarage Road.
His impressive and assured displays in those games then led to Conte handing the forward his first start in the Blues' EFL Cup second-round clash against Bristol Rovers in late August, which paid off when the 23-year-old scored twice to help Chelsea beat the League One side 3-2.
But despite his early fine form, Costa's solid performances have resulted in Conte preferring to utilise the Brazilian up front rather than Batshuayi - which has led to the latter starting just two games in all competitions since the win over Bristol.
However, Nevin thinks Chelsea could be rewarded for giving Batshuayi more game time - with Cesc Fabregas' recent contributions since being brought back into the side a good example of what the substitute squad members of the club still have to offer the league leaders.
Writing in his weekly column on Chelsea's website, Nevin said: "The one point I would make is that most of the other teams have had a few injuries and have tried their back-up men, and it has led to points being dropped.
"At the moment Chelsea still haven’t found out just how good Michy Batshuayi will be with a run in the side. He might be spectacular, a revelation even.
"Also one of our so-called ‘back-up players’ Cesc Fabregas has been doing quite well when he has been brought into the side of late, and I am sure you have noticed he does tend to link up pretty well with Diego.
"And that’s before you even start to think about Branislav, JT, Willian and Oscar who because they haven’t been starting during this fabulous run, would be considered elsewhere as back-up players.
"It is as ludicrous to think of any of them in that way as it is to think of Cesc like that."
