Ake delighted to get Chelsea chance in FA Cup

Pedro and Diego Costa provided the goals as Chelsea cruised into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Wolves and Nathan Ake admits he is delighted to be turning out with such high-quality operators.

The 22-year-old impressed with three goals during a loan spell with Bournemouth during the first half of the season and has now featured twice for Chelsea in the FA Cup.

And though Premier League opportunities have been limited, he is delighted to take his chances in the Cup.

“I’m really happy to get another start, playing with great players,’ he said. “I can only learn from that and hopefully I can push on and get better every time.

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

“We’re really pleased with the win, a bit less so with the performance, but we knew it was going to be a difficult place to come.

“The first 30 minutes, for sure, they were on top. They pressed us high, we couldn’t play out and it was really difficult. The crowd was behind them, so we just needed to get through that.

“I think in the second half we came out much better, we kept the ball and created more chances and I don’t think they created anything.

“The manager told us to push more and give more energy because it looked like they gave more in the first half. They won second balls and things like this.

“We needed to match that, and get better than them, and I think in the second half we did – we won first and second balls and we were more confident on the ball as well.”