I was never forced to play academy boys: Lampard maintains young Chelsea players deserved his trust

Frank Lampard gave Premier League debuts to 8 academy graduates, with some of them becoming regular starters.

It could not have been easy for them to be consistent at a new level, however, Lampard insists he always picked his side on merit.

"When you have players coming back from loans in the Championship who need to play 50 games, there will be difficult times," the boss said in a documentary 'Frank Lampard: Coming Home' launched on Chelsea's official YouTube channel.

"To be able to sustain Champions League football was a huge achievement for the club, but at no point was I forced to play the academy boys. I felt if they were going to play for us they would have to do so on merit."

Mason Mount, Reece James and Tammy Abraham have featured regularly in the starting XI, while Fikayo Tomori and Billy Gilmour also had their bright spells.

Mount's case is unique as never before has a Chelsea academy graduate made his debut and played 50 games for the club in the same season!