Chelsea's Conor Gallagher delivers his Leeds United verdict with Whites admission and reveal

England international midfielder Gallagher dropped to the bench for the fifth round clash at Stamford Bridge but ultimately scored a 90th-minute winner to end United’s FA Cup run via a 3-2 success for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Championship high-flyers Leeds went ahead against their Premier League hosts in just the eighth minute through 20-year-old striker Mateo Joseph’s first goal in senior football but Chelsea hit back to lead 2-1 at the break via strikes from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk.

Daniel Farke’s side then impressed after the interval and equalised just before the hour mark as Joseph bagged his second goal of the game but Gallagher struck late to send his side through, just three days after defeat in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final to Liverpool after extra-time.

Speaking post-match to ITV, former Leeds transfer target Gallagher served up praise for Farke’s side, admitting his Blues knew they would be in for a tough assignment and expressing his delight at getting through.

“It was a great game, a really tough game,” said Gallagher. “Leeds are obviously a good side. They are doing well this season so we knew it would be a tough game but to win in that way was fantastic."

Asked how much the Chelsea response was fuelled by Sunday’s cup final defeat, Gallagher admitted: “A lot. Obviously it was a big disappointment. We wanted to bounce back and give the fans something to celebrate for and thankfully we have done that.

"It was really tough. Obviously everyone has been down the last few days. But we had to make sure we were right for today because it's such an important game and the lads were. The lads who started who played 120 minutes the other day were fantastic and got to give a lot of credit to them. I thought the boys dug deep and thankfully we got the win."

For Chelsea, victory set up a quarter-final at home to United’s promotion rivals Leicester City who had already sealed their passage into the quarter-finals with Tuesday night’s 1-0 victory after extra-time at Bournemouth. The draw for the quarter-finals was made half an hour before Wednesday night’s last 16 clash at Stamford Bridge.

Asked if he knew before the game that a quarter-final at home to Leicester would await the winners, Gallagher revealed: “Yeah, just before, one of the lads told me literally a few minutes before we went out. It made no difference to how we approached the game, we knew Leeds were going to be a really good side to play against and we are really excited for the next round."