Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois believes the arrival of Pedro Rodriguez will help Eden Hazard to rediscover his peak form when Crystal Palace visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Last weekend's win at West Bromwich Albion was Chelsea's first of the Premier League campaign and prompted the champions' manager Jose Mourinho to shout into a pitchside microphone at the final whistle.
But Mourinho's side will not be able to declare their title defence up and running unless they can follow that with victory over a Palace side who have continued where they left off last season.
Chelsea were fortunate to hold on against Albion following the dismissal of John Terry, the club's second red card in the opening three games, but the form of Pedro on his debut provided an undoubted high point.
The former Barcelona winger scored and provided an assist and Courtois believes the presence of the Spain international will be a huge benefit to Belgium playmaker Hazard.
Hazard, last season's player of the year, has struggled to find his best form during the opening weeks.
But Courtois told the Evening Standard: "Pedro's arrival is good for Eden. Whenever Eden got the ball before, you knew that two or three players would go with him to try to stop him. The defenders were always close to him.
"Of course, we have other players with quality but opponents would cover Eden most of all.
"Now we have Pedro, the defenders can't just stay with Eden because they will know the other side is free for him to exploit, as well as for players like Willian and our top strikers.
AFP