Former Chelsea star Graeme Le Saux has urged Guus Hiddink to provide playing opportunities to the youth players of the club.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kenedy and Bertrand Traore have recently impressed for the Blues, and Le Saux wants more opportunities to be given to the club's U-21 players in the upcoming games.

"They've got a fantastic squad of under-21 players that have been very successful over the last few years," Le Saux, speaking for 888poker.com, told Express Sport.

"If you're investing that money and in that talent, like Spurs have done, for me as an outsider you want to see them get a chance on the big stage, because it's only then you find out if they're good enough.

"And when you've got a group of them coming through it's amazing what they can achieve and they've' certainly got a pool of players that have the potential to have an impact."

However, the former left-back also pointed out the peril of playing youngsters in what could turn to be a relegation struggle at the end of the season.

He added: "I'd love to see them bring in some of the younger players as the season goes on. The problem is they need to be in a position where there's less at stake in terms of their league position.

"At the moment they're still in a precarious position. If they lose the next few games, and results go certain ways, they're back in 17th."