Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas admits owner Roman Abramovich wants to see their kids in action against Carling Cup opponents Fulham tonight.

Romelu Lukaku, Oriol Romeu, Josh McEachran, Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Chalobah are all in line to start their first games of the season in tonight's third-round clash with Fulham.

Chalobah is just 16, McEachran and Lukaku are 18, Romeu 19 and Bertrand 22.

And Villas-Boas admitted: "The owner has told me it will be the club's philosophy to use the Carling Cup to promote young talent.

"It is not a new approach to this competition. Arsenal have been doing it for years. But it is different to the philosophy the club had when I arrived here with Jose Mourinho in 2005.

"Then the aim was to win the most amount of trophies possible. There was an aggressive approach to winning the Carling Cup because it was the first trophy available to us.

"We still want to win as many trophies as we can but now we have taken the decision to promote youngsters in the Carling Cup.

"This match gives us an opportunity to push our best young talents and give them experience.

"It is a good challenge against Premier League opponents that gives us an idea of where we stand with the young players we are trying to bring through."