Chelsea captain Gary Cahill has praised teammate Andreas Christensen for how seamlessly he has settled into the first team at Stamford Bridge.
The 21-year-old returned from a two-year loan with Borussia Monchengladbach during the summer and has since usurped David Luiz in Antonio Conte's pecking order, with the Brazilian losing his place in the team before suffering a knee injury.
Christensen has now started the last seven Premier League matches for Chelsea, and Cahill believes that he is improving with every single outing.
"At this football club, you don't get given gifts, you don't get given time to play if you're not good enough," he told BT Sport.
"He's proven that he's more than capable. He's growing stronger and stronger every game he plays. It's natural as well, you get more belief and more confidence from his performances. He's proven to be a very good footballer.
"You don't have to worry every two minutes what he's doing or what he's up to or telling him to go here or go there. And that's a worrying factor. I think it's one of the positives things you don't have to do. You feel you can leave him to play his own game."
Chelsea currently sit third in the Premier League table, although they are still 11 points adrift of leaders Manchester City.
Barney Corkhill
