Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has attempted to play down Callum Hudson-Odoi's lack of first-team minutes this season.

Hudson-Odoi enjoyed an excellent pre-season with the senior squad, but the 18-year-old has been given just 36 minutes of competitive football since the start of the new campaign.

Sarri could hand more playing time to Hudson-Odoi when Chelsea host PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday night, but the Italian has said that the England Under-19 international must improve before expecting to feature on a regular basis.

At a press conference, Sarri told reporters: "He has to improve. He has to improve a lot. First of all, the defensive phase. He has to work. He has to improve on the offensive phase – he's very good one against one, but he has to learn to move without the ball. He is potentially a very good player, and now he has to study and improve and work.

"I think that's really very normal. He's 18, so that's normal. I want to find space for him. It's not really very easy because, at the moment, we have 28 players so, for me, it's not easy.

"Not easy to put him in the starting XI because, maybe, on the bench in the Premier League matches there was [Victor] Moses or Pedro, so it's difficult not to put that kind of player in the starting XI for Thursday. So it's difficult, but I'll try to find a space for him. He is in the 18 players for the match. I don't know if he will start or not."

Bayern Munich are said to be monitoring Hudson-Odoi's development ahead of a possible approach.