Chelsea's FA Youth Cup-winning coach Joe Edwards is confident new manager Antonio Conte will back the club's young players.

Chelsea have not produced an academy graduate who has played regularly in the first team since John Terry.

Edwards said: "There will be plenty of dialogue with the new manager when he comes in from various members of staff in the youth development set-up and there is a closer link than people give us credit for.

"There are at least four or five academy players on the first-team training pitches every day and there will be at least a dozen on the pre-season tour.

"Every opportunity those boys get in front of the first-team manager, they have to make an impact. That's all we can ask for, an opportunity to be in front of him and it's up to him.

"With the boys we've seen tonight, we have to be patient. There is a big gap between Under-18 football and Champions League level football. We're trying to get into one of the best teams in the world, so we have to be patient.

"The boys have to keep this hard work up now; they have achieved but you've seen other players at other clubs over history who have won Youth Cups and not gone on to do anything.

"They have to keep working hard and if they do, keep impressing at every chance they get, hope the first-team manager likes what they see and gives them that opportunity."