Our young Blues secured a point in yesterday's UEFA Youth League fixture against RB Salzburg, however the away side's late equaliser has increased the difficulty of qualification from Group D. Nonetheless, Under-19s head coach Brand is confident that a few improvements from his team will see them get the results they deserve.

Despite a performance that saw our boys control most of the possession for a majority of the 90 minutes, the young Austrians were still able to secure a point away from home, which leaves us with just a point from our opening two group matches.

Lewis Hall scored our first goal of the competition on the hour mark and it looked like that goal would be enough for us to get the three points but a lapse in concentration resulted in the side from Austria finding their way back into the game with a leveller late on.

Improvements needed

Brand gave his thoughts on the game and provided an insight into how his team can improve for future tests.

‘The first half was pleasing to see as after the tough defeat in Croatia,' he said. 'The boys responded well and played with confidence. The only thing we were missing was the decisive goal that our endeavour deserved.

‘The balance was right for most of the game and that is what makes the result a little frustrating as we nullified a very good Salzburg team and they struggled to create.’

With just under 60 per cent possession, our young Blues were commanding on the ball and threatened throughout, though Brand reflected on what he believed allowed the away side to score an equaliser so late on.

‘I think as the game wore on and we got closer to the full time whistle, we sensed the importance of three points and it weighed on us as the game management was not as strong as I wanted it to be,' he continued.

Pushing forward

‘Overall, there are still four more games in the competition and we have to take confidence from the fact that we are learning and improving. It is just about translating that into positive results. Our biggest opponent is ourselves and once we overcome that, we will do well.’

Travis Akomeah made his first start at Under-19 level and Brand was eager to commend the young centre-back’s performance, handling his debut in the competition with maturity.

‘Travis is a first-year scholar who has been playing and training really well so he is fully deserving of his selection.

'Coming into a big game against last year’s finalists, he handled himself well and put in a good performance.’

Chelsea return to action in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday 4 October as they take on AC Milan at Cobham. The group winners automatically advance to the last-16, while runners-up face an away one-legged play-off to reach the knockout round.