Ruben Loftus-Cheek has said he cannot afford to be overawed when he makes his Chelsea debut in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon.
Manager Jose Mourinho said the 18-year-old midfielder would make his first Blues appearance at some stage of the final Group G game, saying it would be a great day for both the player and the club’s academy.
Central midfielder Loftus-Cheek, who captained the FA Youth Cup winning side from last season, said: “It would be amazing to play. I have thought that maybe one day I could play at Stamford Bridge.
“If the opportunity comes then great. If not then I will keep working hard, do my best and see what happens.”
The England Under-19 international has been training with Chelsea’s first team in recent weeks, and will follow in the footsteps of Lewis Baker, Jonathon Swift, Dominic Solanke and Andreas Christensen, who have all made their debuts under Mourinho.
“I have been since here since I was 8 so to be training with the first team means a lot to me,” Loftus-Cheek said.
“It can be a bit daunting but it’s about taking it in your stride, being confident and trying to impress. That’s how you move forward.
“It’s a good squad but we have some good talent coming through. It won’t be easy to break through but you can’t be negative, you have to be positive otherwise you won’t get anywhere near.
“What we can do is do our best and when we can we have to show we want to play and show our talent the rest is up to the manager.”
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This post was last modified on 10/12/2014