Antonio Conte believes his youthful team selection in the FA Cup win over Brentford showed he was “not scared” of picking young players.
Five of the starting line-up against the Bees were 23 or under, with Kenedy reducing the average age further when he came on as a substitute.
John Terry was the last Chelsea academy graduate to become a first-team regular, but Conte believes the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah can follow in his footsteps.
He said: “I think that our young players are growing and for the club and for me it’s very important.
“This season, we haven’t had Champions League or Europa League, we have only the league and the FA Cup, which is a good opportunity to see the improvement of these young players. I am satisfied with what I saw today.
“If they deserve to play I’m ready to put them in the squad. I’m not scared of the young players. The only thing I ask is that they are ready to play.”
Conte made nine changes from the side which beat Hull, with only Cesar Azpilicueta and Pedro retained.
And the Blues boss admitted that while that may have been a gamble, it was one that paid off.
He said: “I must be pleased because when you change nine players and you see all the other players are totally involved in our idea of football and our project, it’s very good for me.
“It was an opportunity for me to put in players who are not playing a lot but also it’s very important to see the right reply from these players.”
This post was last modified on 30/01/2017