Chelsea boss, Frank Lampard, admits Callum Hudson-Odoi is struggling for confidence.
The teenage winger was slammed on social media for his ineffective performance in last week’s shock home defeat to Southampton.
Lampard fears that impatient fans are expecting too much of a player who has started only three Premier League games all season.
He said: “Unfortunately, that sort of thing is now par for the course.
“I haven’t seen what’s been said and I haven’t spoken to Callum about it but it’s something you need to have a very thick skin about.
“He’s 19 years old and it’s a lot to tell someone who has been out of the team for a long time, ‘You must produce instantly or you’ll have social media giving it to you’.
“We have to be level-headed and I will certainly try to protect him against that.”
Lampard knows supporters’ expectations have been raised by Hudson-Odoi signing a £180,000-a-week, five-year contract after Chelsea rejected a £35million bid from Bayern Munich in the summer.
Lamps said: “Callum is a young player who has had a lot of talk about him for different reasons, which is not all of his doing.
“There has been a big microscope on him and we have to show him some patience.
“He has signed a really long contract and has declared he wants to be at Chelsea, so it’s up to him to put all that other stuff to bed.
“I have got no problems with him and will certainly stick with him — but now he has to produce.
“He understands what he needs to do. He needs to be consistent in how he works, how he trains and how much pressure he puts on me to get him into the team.
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“He does have a lot of competition so maybe we’re asking too much of him. But he did well when he came on at Arsenal on Sunday and I think the fans will be absolutely behind him because they want to see passion and the ability to go past opponents, which he has.
“He still needs to develop but he has the talent to do a lot more.”