Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has indicated that Tyrique George is in line for regular appearances in the first team across the next month.
The Blues squad has been hit with injuries since the start of February, most notably to Nicolas Jackson who will be absent until after the March international break.
However, as well as Marc Guiu also missing several weeks of action and Mykhaylo Mudryk serving a provisional drugs ban, Noni Madueke has also been added to the list of unavailable players with a hamstring injury.
Ahead of Saturday's Premier League fixture at Aston Villa, Maresca is struggling for senior options in the final third of the pitch.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the Italian revealed that academy graduate George would have the opportunity to make an impact over the coming weeks.
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Maresca places faith in George
Although the likes of Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku all remain fit for Chelsea, Maresca has suggested that he now views George as direct competition.
Maresca told reporters, as quoted by football.london: "For sure, he is a young one so he is probably not ready 100% but because of the amount of injuries we have.
"Ty is a young profile, he is doing well and because in some moments we do not have different options, we need to give him chances and hopefully we can give him more chances and he can help us."
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Will Maresca roll the dice with George?
Although the aforementioned quartet of attackers are favourites to start against Villa, they were all ineffective against Brighton & Hove Albion last week.
The introduction of George would at least ensure that there is no complacency among the senior stars if they want to retain their place in the team.
As it stands, George has been provided with 12 appearances in all competitions this season, his two assists coming in the FA Cup tie versus Morecambe.
Perhaps most notably, however, Maresca has given the recently-turned 19-year-old a total of 480 minutes of football, with 90 minutes being completed against FC Astana, Shamrock Rovers and Morecambe.
Despite the obvious differences in level of opposition, the fact that the England Under-19 international was given 25 minutes off the substitutes' bench versus Brighton on February 14 suggests that a first Premier League start may be in the offing.
Darren Plant
