Animated Potter shows fight for Chelsea future as Boehly watches on

Putting in the hard yards in his technical area, the 47-year-old was vocal on the touchline issuing instructions to his side after they returned to a 3-4-3 formation.

At times, the Blues showed green shoots of progress, again starting the match well but wasting their chances.

After Joao Felix hit the bar after a good move involving Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz would also miss a one-on-one, leaving Potter searching for his match-winner elsewhere.

Step up Wesley Fofana, the unlikely goal scorer, heading in Ben Chilwell’s 53rd minute corner, just the second set-piece goal under Potter for the struggling west Londoners.

That moment edged Chelsea ahead, ending a more than 400-minute goal drought in all competitions.

With goals still hard to come by, the Blues had to dig in late on and had a few scares against the relegation candidates, particularly a deflected close-range shot by Georgino Rutter.

They showed the fighting spirit to secure a 1-0 victory after Potter issued a rallying cry to fight for points while confidence is low.

By hook or crook, Chelsea won. As a performance, it still falls way below the level they want to get to, but the players left the field smiling, having looked anything but happy in recent weeks.

A win, however it came, offers hope that a traumatic run that threatened to kill Chelsea’s season and end Potter’s tenure is about to end.

It can breed positivity ahead of a Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund that represents the last chance of silverware this season.

Chelsea are still rebuilding around a new squad of players signed by the new Todd Boehly-led ownership group.

They will have renewed hope that Potter can still lead this group, just as the atmosphere threatened to turn mutinous in a difficult season of transition.