Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has spoken of his desire to repay the faith shown in him by manager Jose Mourinho.
Courtois was chosen ahead of long-serving number one Petr Cech between the sticks for Chelsea's opening match of the season on Monday and is expected to continue as first choice for Saturday's meeting with Leicester City.
The 22-year-old Belgian acknowledged that there is pressure on him to succeed with such strong competition, but is confident that he can keep his place in the team.
"Always when you are here you have pressure to perform because you are playing in a top team. There is always a pressure to win games and to be important and I am trying to do that in every game that I play," Courtois is quoted as saying by PA.
"I came here obviously to play. I know that Petr is a great goalkeeper so there is a lot of competition, but when you come back from a successful loan you hope to play. Otherwise, it would maybe have been better for me to go to another team.
"It is nice that he put faith in me and it is for me now to prove his faith is right. I need to work hard in every training session and game to gain the confidence of my teammates and the manager."
Courtois has also urged Cech to stay at the club despite being in direct competition with the 32-year-old.
Barney Corkhill
