Hiddink will play the youngsters if the season falls apart
Guus Hiddink has vowed to play the youngsters more in the first-team if Chelsea are knocked out of the Champions League.
According to the Guardian, Hiddink believes the next week will make or break Chelsea’s season, with the club set to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League as well as Manchester City in the FA Cup, two competitions still high on Chelsea’s agenda.
The Dutchman said:
This is a key week as to whether we go in a nice flow into the next round of the FA Cup, go further in the Champions League or the other scenario is there, we need to see what the near future can bring with some big experiments and see what can be done with younger players who are knocking on the door.
Like the fans, the interim manager is thought to be keen to see more of the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Bertrand Traore.
Traore came off the bench against Newcastle and scored the Blues’ fifth goal of the game, as well as scoring in the previous round of the FA Cup against MK Dons.
Hiddink had this to say on the youngster:
I am happy youngsters are now coming up at this club. I was happy with Traore who worked so hard in training, so he deserved to come in, so I was happy he made his goal. It’s a signal now that young players have the opportunity to make an impact.
As well as Traore, young Jake Clarke-Salter has travelled with the squad to Paris for their tie against Paris Saint-Germain. January signing, Matt Miazga has also travelled but neither are likely to feature.