Reece James offers hilarious review of record-breaking Chelsea youngster after Djurgarden win

Reece James was forced to apologise for swearing with excitement in his review of Chelsea midfielder Reggie Walsh's performance against Djurgarden.

Having roared to a 4-0 win in the Conference League semi-final first leg, the pressure was off Chelsea in Thursday's return fixture and Maresca responded by making 16-year-old midfielder Walsh the Blues' youngest-ever starter in a European fixture.

Walsh played the full 90 minutes one week after making his senior debut as a late substitute, and James did not mince his words when asked for his assessment of the youngster.

"I've seen him in training lots, but training and games are different," the Chelsea captain told TNT Sports.

"This is the first time I've seen him play in a game and I was like, 'f**king hell' - sorry about that! - I didn't realise how good he actually was. Training is training and you can't judge too much on what you see in training."

Maresca went on to heap praise on Walsh in his post-match press conference, challenging the teenager to remain focused on his development both on and off the pitch.

"What do you think, you like him? Good, eh?" Maresca asked reporters. "I like Reggie, I love Reggie because he's that kind of player that, in my system, in the way I want to play, it's perfect.

"You struggle to find players so young. He's 16. And you see how he was asking for the ball, how good he is on the ball.

"Now, for sure, the most important thing for him is that he continues to study, he continues to go. I ask him now, tomorrow he has to go to school. It's important for him, he has to continue on that. But for sure, he's a good player. We finished with Reggie '08 [born], Shimmy [Mheuka] and Genesis [Antwi] '07, and Josh [Acheampong] and Tyrique [George] '06. It's second team, it's not even first team, it's second team.

"So it's fantastic for the academy, it's fantastic for Chelsea, it's fantastic for the fans because the future can be important. Good feeling."

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