‘Nice and steady’: Stuart Pearce gives glowing review of £50m Chelsea star after Carabao Cup display

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Ben Chilwell made a rare appearance for Chelsea, as they beat Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup semi-final earlier this week.

The 27-year-old made the Chelsea starting XI for the first time since September after battling a niggling hamstring injury.

Chilwell, however looked far from rusty during the entire 65 minutes that he lasted in the game, putting in the right tackles, and making fantastic attacking runs to help the Blues to a 6-2 aggregate win against Boro.

TalkSPORT pundit, Stuart Pearce was so impressed with Chilwell’s performance on Tuesday night, that he gave a glowing tribute of the Chelsea vice-captain.

He told talkSPORT: “When you consider that length of time not starting a game, he was nice and steady. It was probably the ideal game for him. Nice and comfortable, not too much defending to do. He got forward and looked very athletic.

“He didn’t look off the pace in anyway shape or form. He’ll be pleased with that. You fully expect him to be nice and fresh for the cup game coming up later in the week.”

Chelsea will face Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday, and fans will be hoping that Chilwell will be equally as good as he was against Boro.