Antonio Rudiger has called on Chelsea supporters to be patient with Gonzalo Higuain after he failed to make an instant impact on his debut.

The loan signing from Juventus received little service as a lone striker against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday and had to repeatedly drop deep just to get a touch of the ball.

On Wednesday night at Bournemouth he will be partnered up front with Eden Hazard for the first time, after the Belgian was rested for the FA Cup tie, and Rudiger expects Chelsea’s talisman to have a huge impact on Higuain’s displays.

He said: “Everyone who understands football and knows Eden, you can make a profit out of him playing with him.

“It [playing without Hazard] is the same as Barcelona playing without [Lionel] Messi. For us it’s Hazard. He can make always the difference, as he showed against Tottenham last week.

“We have to be patient with Higuain. He’s new. Everything’s new. But he will be important for us and he will show his strength.

“First of all, if you see his record, you know he’s a goalscorer. He will do the same here. I’m confident about him.”

Despite Rudiger’s call for patience, coach Maurizio Sarri admits Higuain must learn the style of Chelsea’s play, as well as the English game, as soon as possible.

After facing Bournemouth and then Huddersfield on Saturday, Chelsea have a season-defining run of fixtures against Manchester City (Premier League and Carabao Cup Cup Final), Manchester United (FA Cup), Malmo (Europa League) and Tottenham (Premier League) over the space of 17 days.

For Chelsea to get through that run of matches unscathed, Higuain, 31, is surely going to have to be at his best.

Sarri said: “It’s not easy [for him] to adapt. At the end of Sunday’s game, Higuain said: ‘It’s so aggressive’.

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“He has the right experience. He is a great player, so he has to run, to adapt in a few matches.

"But he has to do everything in less than one month, otherwise it’s [too] late.”

Chelsea have got their season back on track following the 2-0 Premier League defeat at Arsenal, by booking a place in the Carabao Cup Final and reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Rudiger, however, admits Chelsea have to improve in the top flight, starting on Wednesday night at Bournemouth.

He said: “We can be happy with the last two games [in the cups]. But we need to find more consistency and get back to the form we showed in the first months of the season.

“We have to show the right mindset in every game, not only in the big matches.”