What Levi Colwill told 18 year old debut star to do in Chelsea's Crystal Palace draw

01/05/2025 11:30 AM

Josh Acheampong was the headline story for Chelsea at Selhurst Park yesterday as the 18 year old made his first start in the Premier League.

Afterwards he spoke to Chelsea TV about how he got on and how he felt after such a significant moment in his career:

"It was a really enjoyable game, obviously my first Premier League start. I've worked a lot for it. Overall it was really enjoyable, but it was unfortunate we couldn't come away with 3 points," Acheampong said.

It was then pointed out to him that he had more touches and played more passes than any other player in the game:

"It's one of the things I like to do when I play: get on the ball. Especially as I was getting more and more into the game I was getting more confident. So I guess it just helps to be on the ball more," he responded.

To be that comfortable at a tough ground against a big physical striker wasn't easy, and the Cobham product then explained how he had navigated that challenge:

"I kinda never really think about my opponent. I'm just thinking about my own game and block out the crowd. Having played with these lot before in big stadiums helped me. Yeah it felt like a big step up physically [from the Conference League], but you get used to it training with these lot.

You can see the defender speaking in the clip embedded here:

Levi Colwill's impressive influence grows

We've heard a lot recently about Levi Colwill developing into a real leader in this squad, and Acheampong name-checked him as having helped him out off the pitch as well as on it:

"Yeah Levi helped me during the game, before and even after, telling me to clap the fans. It's really good to have him around."