Malo Gusto not scared of battling Chelsea captain Reece James

Malo Gusto insists he is not scared to be battling Chelsea captain Reece James for minutes at right-back.

Chelsea signed Gusto for £26m in January and brought him over to Stamford Bridge this summer to help ease the pressure on James, who has struggled horribly with injuries during the past few seasons.

James, who was promoted to captain this summer, missed two months with a hamstring problem earlier this season and is now closing in on a return after another three months sidelined with a similar issue.

In James' absence, Gusto has made a real impact in Mauricio Pochettino's team and the Frenchman revealed he is enjoying working alongside James as he seeks to improve.

"Reece is a big player. One of the best players in this position," Gusto told The Athletic. "It's not good for the team [that he is out injured] as Reece is the captain and it's not good for everyone in the club. But me, I have to be ready and take every chance.

"We talk a lot. I try to help him, he tries to help me as well. It's a good competition between him and me. We are not similar (as players), but when we are on the pitch we try to help the team, keeping a good mentality, to score and to assist. That's what we have to do."

With James not due back until March, Gusto will once again start for Chelsea in Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.

"This trophy can be good for this young team," he continued. "To show everyone we are not just young. We are young but, on the pitch, it's not about how old you are, you know? You have to keep pushing, game after game.

"[It helps] we live the same thing together, because we are all young. We try to help each other every day. We talk a lot. It's good to stay with people like you - it will be nice for the future. [Winning a trophy] can be nice for our mentality, to help us become better until the end of the season. We have to keep working to show the fans we are Chelsea and we need to win everything.

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"We have to take the opportunity. We don't have a choice. We have to win every game. We are young, but it is not an excuse. We have a lot of quality and we want to win everything. This is a good opportunity for us to improve.

"But [the season] is not finished after this game. We have another one in the FA Cup. We have the Premier League as well - we have to keep moving forward, to keep a winning way.

"Maybe we did not start the season very well, but we have to finish well. That is what we will try to do."

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