Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo feels his new-look team are showing there's life after John Terry et al.
Didier Drogba has already departed, Frank Lampard is no longer an automatic choice in the final year of his contract and even Terry is not guaranteed to start when fit.
Di Matteo said of his experienced stars: "They have been very successful in our club for many years and still are very much a part of the spine of this team.
"And I think we have a new breed of players that are developing into new leaders to eventually take over because, obviously, everything will have an end at some time."