Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek made a real statement with his hat-trick against BATE Borisov, according to Emma Hayes.
The midfielder's three goals helped Chelsea beat the Belarusians in the Europa League on Thursday night, and Hayes thinks it is a performance that will have made manager Maurizio Sarri sit up and take notice.
"Chelsea only have to pick up a one injury in a key area around that central space and Loftus-Cheek is right now a player who can come into the team and I do think there has to be a bit of patience, but pushing at the training ground every day," the Chelsea women's coach told The Debate.
"Scoring hat-tricks, albeit on a Europa League night, is a real statement and one that says, 'I can do what you are asking me to do.'"
Despite Loftus-Cheek having played just 33 minutes for Chelsea in the Premier League this season, Hayes believes the England international is ready to feature more regularly for the first team.
"Internally for him, he is a player that everybody wants to see do well," she said. "He is a fantastic product coming through the youth system and has stayed patient at times when others might have felt he should have gone out on loan sooner.
"Having a World Cup and a shorter recovery period has probably hindered him in the earlier stages, but he is sticking at it and importantly, when he has been given his chances, he has taken them. And that is all you can ask of a player."
With Chelsea competing on multiple fronts this season, though, Hayes has no doubts Loftus-Cheek will have a role to play at Stamford Bridge going forward.
"The reality is, you are talking about a 60-game season and you are not going to play the same starting XI week in, week out," he said. "There are going to come moments with suspensions, injuries, games accumulations that he is going to have to be ready.
"If Chelsea are to have a sustained challenge, then Loftus-Cheek is going to have an impact at some point in the season.
"He has had to accumulate that experience, and that takes a while, whether it be the combination of Crystal Palace, England, occasional appearances with the first team.
"He is more ready now than ever to challenge seriously and some of that requires a degree of perseverance and waiting for the right moment. And if it comes, then you have to take it.
"There are two, three games in a week on a regular basis as it goes on and he will play a role and the more that he produces performances like he did tonight, the more opportunities he will be given."