Blackburn boss Allardyce: Jones potential excites me

Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce admits he is excited by the potential of 18 year-old centre-half Phil Jones.

For the draw at Rovers, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted his players had "lost composure" against a rugged Blackburn side whose determination was summed up by an awesome league debut by central defender Jones, who only turned 18 last month.

Allardyce said: "It was a great performance by a young man who is looking like he has a bright future.

"As big a team as Chelsea are we felt it was time to give him the chance.

"It's nice to see a player that excites you like that - especially when he's a centre-half like I was.

"We have recommended him to the England under-19s and said he should be playing at that level but there is a still a long way to go for him to be a regular Premier League centre-half."