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There’s a reason why so many fans believe Antonio Conte is the manager that will finally bridge the gap between Chelsea senior team and the academy.

In the last two decades, only John Terry has gone on to make that progression from the academy to the Chelsea senior team.

Conte has shown that he’s willing to give youngsters the opportunity to make that progression. Against Brentford in the FA Cup, Conte handed out starts to 5 young players who are just outside the first 11. Michy Batshuayi started in attack, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah were given midfield roles, while Nathan Ake started as a wing-back and Kurt Zouma started in centre-back.

Costa then brought on Kenedy in the last 20 minutes of the game, as he replaced Cesar Azpilicueta.

Despite giving starts to 5 young players, Chelsea were still the dominant side, as the Blues romped to a 4-0 victory.