Nathaniel Chalobah was 'delighted' to complete his first 90 minutes for Chelsea's first-team in Sunday's 4-1 FA Cup victory over Peterborough United - putting in an impressive display in the middle of Antonio Conte's experimental line up.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed plenty of substitute and cup appearances since the Italian manager took over in the summer, though has had to be patient for his chance at Stamford Bridge. Despite making Chelsea's bench at the age of 15, the midfielder had to wait until he was 21 years old, and for Conte to become manager, to get his chance.
Chelsea lined up with Chalobah and fellow academy graduate Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who also had an impressive game, while Ola Aina made an appearance early into the second half.
Chalobah believes he is an important member in Conte's first team squad but admitted he is delighted to have completed his first 90 minutes.
"It was a proud moment for me to complete my first 90 minutes at Chelsea," Chalobah said in response to a question from Goal. "I am really happy. We have just got to going now, we are up there in the league at the minute.
"We are taking it game by game and there is still a long way to go in the season, anything can happen. This is good development at a club that I have been at from a very young age so we [Loftus-Cheek and Ola Aina] are all very happy.
"I think that's the dream [to make it at Chelsea], we have always thought of playing for Chelsea and we are doing it all together at the minute. The manager has got faith in us and he has given us the chance so it is something that we are proud of and all the young players at the club just need to keep following their dream."
Chalobah lined up with Fabregas against Peterborough on Sunday and is part of a strong stable of midfielders at Chelsea. He admitted that it is tough to breakthough into the first team but that he is actively learning from the likes of N'Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas.
"I just watch them [Fabregas-Matic-Kante] every week and they have just gone thirteen games unbeaten which makes it hard to get into the side," He added after his appearance in the FA Cup.
"Obviously there are a few players ahead of us [younger players]. So every week, every game, I just watch and learn from them because they have got the experience that I don't have yet.
"We are definitely part of it [the first team], the manager has given us more responsibility to follow his philosophy and we are all learning."