Liam Rosenior has revealed that Chelsea academy starlets Jesse Derry and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen have travelled with the first-team to face Wrexham in the FA Cup on Saturday, calling on the pair to follow in the footsteps of club captain Reece James.
The Blues head to north Wales looking to book a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals , and the Blues' head coach is hoping to hand some youngsters the opportunity to impress.
Kavuma-McQueen, 17, and Derry, 18, will hope to live up to expectations after Rosenior heaped praise on them and their academy team-mates as he previewed the Wrexham match.
He said: "Jesse's really impressed me, Ryan's impressed, but it's not just those two. There have been a few that I've got to see in training when they've been brought up that I'm really happy with.
Jesse Derry made his first-team debut in Chelsea's FA Cup fourth-round defeat of Hull City (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
"Reggie Watson has trained with us a few times, he's really impressed me. It's scary the age that he is. Young Mahdi [Nicoll-Jazuli] has been up a few times, he's an outstanding talent as well."
Derry, who joined Chelsea from Crystal Palace last summer, made his senior debut as the Blues knocked Hull out of the FA Cup in the fourth round, but Kavuma-McQueen is yet to feature for the first team despite being named to the bench as Ajax visited Stamford Bridge in October .
Rosenior continued, lauding the quality of Chelsea's Cobham academy before adding that he hoped to help develop its legacy.
"There are some outstanding young players in the group. We just need to make sure we put them in at the right time and they get the experiences that they need to continue their development.
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen will hope to make his senior debut as Chelsea visit Wrexham (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
"I was at the FA Youth Cup game [against Manchester City], I've seen a few of the Under-21s games, watched a lot of clips with Calum from his time before me with the group as well, to get to know the young players.
"There's nothing better than giving a young player who has come through the Academy their debut, or seeing them grow. Look at Reece [James] now, or Trevoh Chalobah, and what this club means to them.
"That should always be in your thinking, to want to develop, and this is an outstanding Academy that has produced so many incredible players through the years. We want to continue that and make sure the pathway for those players is there."
