The 25-year-old, who signed from FC Porto over the summer, managed only 20 minutes of Wednesday's meeting with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical as Luiz Felipe Scolari's side began their pre-season tour with a comfortable 4-0 win.

Chelsea initially insisted the Portugal full-back was withdrawn as a precautionary measure after complaining of a minor thigh problem, but it was later revealed he would undergo a scan to determine the extent of the injury.

Bosingwa looked at home on the Chelsea right side and pushed forward from his right-back role on regular occasions during his brief but encouraging debut.

Joe Cole and Andriy Shevchenko were not included in the matchday squad as they are short of match fitness, but while Scolari revealed the Ukrainian will not feature in Saturday's friendly in Macau, he was more hopeful over the inclusion of the England midfielder.

Salomon Kalou, Frank Lampard, Argentinian teenager Franco Di Santo and Shaun Wright-Phillips all scored as Chelsea began their five-game tour of Asia and Russia with a professional performance at the Guangzhou Olympic Stadium.

"I think it is normal for a first game," added Scolari. "The players have trained well for the last two weeks, more fitness than technical training."

Following the win, Scolari refused to respond to Sir Alex Ferguson's comments Chelsea would struggle to mount a challenge for the Premier League title due to the age of their squad.

He said: "I think I have a lot of experienced players and also some young boys in my team but I feel we have experience for the Premier League or whatever league."

Kalou broke the deadlock after 20 minutes, latching onto a defence-splitting ball from Jon Obi Mikel before Lampard doubled the advantage just after the break with a stunning 30-yard chip over the Guangzhou goalkeeper.

With the clock running down, half-time substitute Florent Malouda found space on the left to whip a low cross in front of goal for Di Santo to slide in a third before Wright-Phillips sealed the win in the closing moments with a shot on the turn from inside the area.

Goalscorer Kalou was pleased with the first game of the Scolari era and is looking forward to a successful future under the former Brazil and Portugal coach.

"I think this year we are going to play more attacking football and I am confident everyone is motivated to give their best," said the 22-year-old Ivory Coast international.

"It is a new chance for everyone to impress the new manager to be in the first team so it will be interesting.

"We suffered last season but it is a chance to prove ourselves and show the new manager we can be in the team and fight for every competition."