Football: The kids are all right as Chelsea defy doubters

Twenty-year-old Mason Mount has become a first-team regular under Frank Lampard at Chelsea this season. Photo / Getty Images

Mason Mount allowed his point to trail off before Fikayo Tomori picked up the cue to complete the midfielder's sentence for him.

"Yeah, it was a Mason assist," said Tomori as the two collapsed into laughter after Mount had set him up by answering a question on the FA Youth Cup final the Chelsea pair won together by saying: "I remember there was someone who put the ball in for Fik's goal ..."

That was in 2016, and three years later, Mount and Tomori are now first-team regulars together in Frank Lampard's energetic young side that are winning hearts and minds.

Along with fellow Chelsea Youth Cup winner Tammy Abraham, they were also part of Gareth Southgate's last England squad.

Mount and Tomori started playing regularly together for Chelsea aged 14 and it was around that time Mount's father Tony questioned whether his son should stay at Chelsea, pointing out to him that no academy graduate had held down a regular first-team place since John Terry.

Tony previously revealed that Mason had told him he would be the next to break through, and the 20-year-old said: "I probably said something like that, yeah.

"That was the discussion but my goal was always to play for Chelsea and I didn't want to go anywhere else. I loved the competition. It was so high, so you always needed to play better every game and train harder every day, and keep improving."

Part of the Chelsea loan army, Mount spent a season in Holland at Vitesse Arnhem and Tomori had spells at Brighton and Hull before they resumed their progression together at Derby County last season, and, under Lampard, helped the club to the Championship playoff final.

Chelsea's Kurt Zouma, right and Fikayo Tomori celebrate at the end of the group H Champions League soccer match between Ajax and Chelsea. Photo / AP

Despite spending significant time away from the club, neither Tomori nor Mount gave up on their dream of making it at Chelsea.

While Mount and Tomori were already familiar to those who follow Chelsea's youngsters, Derby's League Cup run last season alerted a wider audience to their talent.

They were part of the team who secured a famous penalty shootout victory at Manchester United and were then given special dispensation to play against their parent club.

Of the victory against United, Mount said: "That was probably one of a couple of games that really sticks out. To go up there and win, and we could have won in normal time, they equalised really late. We played so well and that's one of my best memories of being at Derby."

They were rewarded with a fourth-round trip to Chelsea and Tomori and Mount were surprisingly allowed to make their first senior appearances at Stamford Bridge for the opposition.

"It was mixed emotions because we'd come through the Chelsea academy and never played for them and then we were playing against them at Stamford Bridge. It was a weird feeling," said Mount.

Tomori added: "I was very surprised. I was at Hull the year before when we got Chelsea in the FA Cup. I was like, 'Imagine if we could play', and the manager just said 'nah'. So when we got Chelsea with Derby, I told Mason, 'Listen, it's not happening'. We had a day off and the manager [Lampard] came back and said, 'I've been pulling strings and you're allowed to play against Chelsea'."

Tomori unfortunately opened the scoring by putting the ball into his own net. Chelsea went on to win a thrilling tie 3-2 but the home fans made it clear how much they wanted Lampard and the club's academy graduates to return by loudly supporting them through the tie.

Chelsea's head coach Frank Lampard celebrates at the end of the group H Champions League soccer match between Ajax and Chelsea. Photo / AP

Mount said of the reception they and Lampard received last season, and the goodwill that has poured down from the stands this term: "It was such a big moment for the manager coming back. We can feel that goodwill from the fans, 100 per cent. It's something they've been calling for for a long time, young English players coming through and doing well for the club."

Lampard has been keen to stress that his trust in youth has not been a direct consequence of Chelsea's transfer ban.

He has trusted Tomori and Mount ahead of the likes of David Luiz, who was sold to Arsenal, and Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater, who were allowed to leave on loan.

"Especially for us two, working under him last season, knowing how he works, knowing how he wants to play, we probably had that little bit of an advantage coming into pre-season," said Mount.

"But, yeah, it does help having an English manager knowing all the young English players coming through the academy, knowing what we are about and having that confidence in us to perform.''

Throwing so many young players into the team together could have represented a risk, but Mount believes it has helped them to acclimatise quickly with Chelsea fourth in the Premier League and top of their Champions League group.

"Having all the players around and the fact we are doing it together, we probably are feeding off each other and it's giving us that fearlessness going into games," said Mount.

"There is pressure playing for a massive club and you've got stuff to prove, but coming through with a lot of similar faces who you have known growing up, it does help a lot."