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Antonio Conte wants Ethan Ampadu to keep his feet on the ground following the youngster’s impressive performance against Bournemouth.
Ampadu was excellent at the heart of the Chelsea defence in their Carabao Cup quarter-final win.
But Blues boss Conte has suggested the 17-year-old might have to wait for another chance to impress in the first team.
“Now he has to stay calm. Maybe the next game he goes to play in the youth league,” Conte said.
“But this player is very humble and he could have a could have a great future, but he has to continue in this way to improve and to work.”
Ampadu was shown a yellow card for a challenge on Jermain Defoe after just 90 seconds at Stamford Bridge, where Alvaro Morata’s injury-time winner – scored straight after the Cherries had equalised – took Chelsea through to the semi-finals.
“It is not simple for a defender to play with a yellow card after one minute. He played a good game with this problem,” Conte said.
“You have to play 93 or 94 minutes with this danger and he showed great maturity and a great performance.
“I have spoken about this player in an enthusiastic way because I have said that despite being a young age he has great maturity, and I think he has deserved to play.”
This post was last modified on 21/12/2017