After making his debut in the 4-3 friendly defeat against Manchester City in the US, Andreas Christensen thanked his team-mates for their support.
The young Danish defender played the full 90 minutes in a game which we led 3-0, playing alongside Gary Cahill in the first half and David Luiz after the break.
Having never previously featured for the first team, going up against the likes of Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko could be seen as a baptism of fire, but Christensen more than held his own.
‘It was a great experience,’ he tells the official Chelsea website. ‘I was playing against top players and it was a good learning curve.
‘My team-mates gave me a lot of support and helped me a lot because they have so much experience. Gary Cahill’s a good player; he talked me through the game and was helping me a lot.
‘The players have been great with me and made me feel part of the team, which is a big help. It was still tough, and I have a long way to go, but I felt I did okay.’
The 17-year-old wasn’t the only new face on show, with his Academy team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek also making his Blues debut.
The young midfielder impressed throughout up until his withdrawal late in the game, and Christensen was pleased to have a familiar face in the starting line-up.
‘Having Ruben making his debut as well helped me as I wasn’t the only one, and he did very well,’ says the Dane.
‘It’s given us a taste of playing against the best players and hopefully if we work hard we will get more opportunities.’