Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger is aware he has a battle on his hands to break in to the club’s first team, despite only making the £29m move from Roma this summer.
Manager Antonio Conte opted to play his tried and trusted back three of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta in the Community Shield match against Arsenal last Sunday, with the German having to settle for a place on the bench.
Speaking in an interview with German magazine Kicker, the 24 year old says he will put in the hard work on the training pitch in order to impress Conte, and get his chance in the starting eleven:
“It is up to me how I present myself in training, there are certain instincts, which I do not yet have [with my team mates], but it is then up to the coach to bring me into the game, if he wants to, and for me to do what he asks of me.”
Speaking about Luiz, Cahill and Azpilicueta specifically, Rudiger knows he will need to up his game in order to improve his position in the pecking order:
“Now I have to work on my standing here. The guys have become masters here, so I have to subordinate myself. That means for me: hard work.”
Rudiger came on with 11 minutes to go, replacing Marcos Alonso, in the Community Shield but he will be hoping for greater game time as the season goes on.
