Chelsea loanee Trevoh Chalobah plans to show he’s no longer a ‘young boy’ by shining at Portman Road.
The England Under 19 captain is enjoying his first taste of senior football at Portman Road and has largely impressed so far, scoring his first senior goal in the battling draw with Aston Villa on Saturday.
Chalobah has rubbed shoulders with some of the best players on earth in training at Chelsea, and when he was picked by England boss Gareth Southgate to train with his senior side ahead of their now-famous run to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia this summer.
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And the young midfielder says those experiences have steeled him to the demands of senior football.
Of training with Southgate’s squad, he said: It’s good being around players like that. For me, if you’re getting called up or selected for certain squads then you need to show that you are not scared and not a little boy or anything.
“Me coming here and being a young boy I need to show in my performances that I am a big lad and what I’ve got.
“It was good for me to train with them (England), a very good experience to train with a World Cup squad who did their country proud.
“It just shows he (Southgate) is watching us and it’s important for me to keep pushing. My aim is to try and push for an Under 21s call-up.
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“I spent most of the season training with the first team (at Chelsea). I’ve been training with some of the best players around the world.”
Chalobah has certainly handled the step up to senior football well so far, and has been an ever-present part of Paul Hurst’s first team in the five games Town have played this campaign.
He’s capable of playing both in central defence and in midfield, and it is in the latter position that Hurst has been playing him.
Of the step up, he said: “Coming from academy football to this has been a lot different. I’m still getting in the flow of it but I think I will get better with every game.
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“I don’t really have a preferred position, I’ll play anywhere really and I’ll play centre-back, centre-mid, wherever I’m needed.
“It’s important to have that versatility.”
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