Chelsea suffered their first defeat in four games after a narrow 2-1 loss to West Ham in the fourth round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.
Antonio Conte preferred to make seven changes to the starting line-up including the likes of youngsters Ola Aina and Nathaniel Chalobah, but the recent momentum which the first team had had faded away along with the switch of players.
The Italian has suggested that for getting knocked out of the league cup, many chances for fringe players to prove themselves are gone alongside with that, Squawka reports.
This cup was very important to check the development of these young players.
We have good young players, and they need to play. So I am disappointed that we can’t play in this competition now.
Chalobah has already rose to become a weekly substitute in Conte’s Chelsea side, but it’s likely that due to the EFL Cup exit Aina and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not be getting such opportunities.
