Noni Madueke responds to Enzo Maresca warning after Southampton win | OneFootball

Chelsea winger Noni Madueke has praised Enzo Maresca's "honest and truthful" approach to management after being called out by the Blues boss over his training levels.

Madueke has been a regular starter for Chelsea this season but was surprisingly benched for the victory over Aston Villa, only to return to the starting lineup and contribute to two goals in the 5-1 win over Southampton.

Despite celebrating the win, Maresca did not shy away from taking aim at Madueke over his training levels and lack of ruthless streak in front of goal.

Madueke, however, had no issue with the manager's comments and instead praised Maresca for taking an often-difficult approach to helping players improve.

"He is honest and truthful," Madueke said of the manager. "He tells the truth and he is a man you can trust. That's all you want from a coach.

"He is not necessarily a coach that is trying to be best friends with everyone, but he is a coach that is straight with everyone and fair to everyone. That's what you need at a top club like Chelsea."

Madueke netted against Southampton / GLYN KIRK/GettyImages

Madueke's goal and assist helped inspire a victory which took Chelsea up to second in the Premier League, ahead of title hopefuls Arsenal on goal difference. While the Gunners are widely seen as the main competition for Liverpool in the title race, Chelsea have routinely played down their chances of competing for the trophy.

"Of course we are up for [the title race], whether we are in it or not is a different question," Madueke continued.

"However, we are taking every game as it comes. We are trying to progress and trying to get better. We are focusing on ourselves, really, and really trying to improve.

"We won 5-1 and in the dressing room we are very happy with that, but we also know that we can be a lot better. It's really focusing on us, focusing on training and trying to improve."