Chelsea keep faith with Andreas Christensen for Bournemouth cup tie

Antonio Conte has described Andreas Christensen’s impact as “the best surprise” of the season and earmarked the defender as a future Chelsea captain as he prepares to send out an experimental side in the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.

Ethan Ampadu, the 17-year-old Wales international whose only Chelsea start came in the previous round, will partner Danny Drinkwater in midfield against Bournemouth , with Kenedy operating at left wing-back. Dujon Sterling, 18, a member of England under-19s’ successful European Championship campaign over the summer, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, 17, who helped the national side win the under-17s World Cup in October, are expected to be on the bench. The latter has yet to represent the first team.

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Conte was keen to stress the selections are based on merit – “I do not hand out stupid presents to people who don’t deserve them,” he said and pointed to Christensen’s contribution at the heart of the defence as an example of an academy graduate taking his chance. The 21-year-old, who spent the past two seasons on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach, has started 11 Premier League games and stepped into the breach impressively with David Luiz off form and now hampered for the foreseeable future by a knee complaint. Christensen, who signed a five-year deal in 2015, is likely in the next few months to be rewarded with a new contract which better reflects the impact he has made.

“Every time I have decided to give Christensen the opportunity to play, he has given an amazing performance and convinced me he has to play regularly,” Conte said. “Christensen is maybe the best surprise from the start of this season: for me, the club, his team-mates, the fans. It’s not simple to see this composure, this calmness in such a young player. Chelsea have found a player who can have the same career as some of the best defenders here. He has the right characteristics to play for this club for many years. I can predict a fantastic career.

“The player is very happy to stay with us and play with this regularity. Maybe his expectation wasn’t so optimistic: to arrive in a team like Chelsea and play every game. But he has. For sure [he could be a future captain]. When you start like this playing in a great club, the future is yours.”

Conte, who made his Serie A debut as a 16-year-old with Lecce, will rest the majority of his senior players, with Michy Batshuayi granted a rare start up front. The Belgian has been hampered by an ankle complaint recently, with the manager having made clear what the £32m forward has to do to play more often. “He has to show me he’s better than Álvaro Morata, or Eden Hazard,” Conte said.