"He (Pato) is eager and of course we now have healthy competition between the strikers, in a very good atmosphere, with Diego the No. 1," Hiddink told reporters ahead of Tuesday's visit to Norwich City, 17th in the English Premier League.
Captain John Terry, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury, has started running again and could return in time for Saturday's home game against Stoke City, but the manager is unsure how long winger Pedro will be ruled out for.
The Spaniard injured a hamstring in the come-from-behind 2-1 win away at Southampton on Saturday.
"I'm not that positive it will be resolved within a few days," Hiddink said.
Chelsea have climbed to 11th in the table and are unbeaten in the top flight since Hiddink took over.
"When I started in December, we were close to the relegation zone, just one point (above), and the first objective was to get as soon as possible out of that zone," he said.
"That, of course, is not the target for Chelsea - but it does encourage us to go on."
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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