Monday 11 January 2016 17:04, UK
Interim Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink said he was not afraid to give more youngsters first-team opportunities this season after watching Ruben Loftus-Cheek score his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win over Scunthorpe.
Loftus-Cheek, who turns 20 in less than a fortnight's time, came off the bench to seal his side's victory in their FA Cup third-round clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday with a coolly taken finish midway through the second half.
After the match Hiddink confirmed that if a player from the club's academy was ready to play, then he would be happy to hand them their chance between now and the end of the season.
"It is not said by the club [that he has to field more academy players], but it is automatically the consequence when you have an academy that you start using them on the condition that they have the level," he said.
"I have worked with other teams where I do not hesitate to bring young players through to make their debut."
Hiddink, who replaced Jose Mourinho as Chelsea boss last month following the Portuguese's sacking by the club, claimed the champions were still looking to finish in the Premier League top four this season.
"We were aiming to get into the next round of the FA Cup. The Premier League, it is difficult to get into fourth place, but as long as it is possible we will go for it," said the Dutchman, with Chelsea currently 13 points behind Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth and final Champions League berth.
However, Hiddink has more realistically targeted winning this season's FA Cup again, as he also did while in temporary charge of Chelsea in 2009.
"It was a very, very important game for us today to get through to the next round," he added. "We did not expect an easy game. I think the first 20-25 minutes we had a high pressure, we played well at that time, we had a beautiful goal through Diego Costa.
"And then I think we got a little bit sloppy in finishing it off. We had two or three options where you can make it 2-0 and then I think the opponent will lose his energy.
"They were still in the game and had the big threat from their free-kicks and corner kicks, so as long as it was 1-0, the threat was actual for us.
"We are very determined to go on to get silverware at the end hopefully, but that is why you have to play these difficult games and also the desire of the team to go on. It is a little bit difficult to rest a lot of players."
