Chelsea youngster Ollie Harrison explains the difference between playing for the Blues’ academy and England

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Ollie Harrison was one Chelsea academy player who was called up to represent his country during this international break.

There were a lot of representatives from Cobham in this round of international youth fixtures, with Ollie Harrison playing for England U18s.

A year up, England U19s, Chelsea had five players take to the pitch in one fixture, including Josh Acheampong, who has spent some time with the first team this season.

As for Harrison, he has been speaking about one of the major differences between playing for club and country.

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Ollie Harrison on Chelsea and England U18s

Harrison will view it as a privilege to represent England at under-18 level, but it is not as easy as playing for Chelsea, according to the midfielder.

Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, he said: “Playing for England is a bit different from playing for Chelsea, where I know how everyone in the squad plays. That’s the hardest part, you need to bond quickly with the England squad if you want to perform at your best.”

With the international break now over, Chelsea fans will be looking forward to watching their first team and youth sides in action again.

Enzo Maresca‘s senior squad travel to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday to take on Bournemouth.

Chelsea’s midfield hard to break into

One day, Harrison will want to be playing in midfield in Chelsea’s first team. As of now, that is a challenge for any Chelsea academy player.

Maresca has options in that part of the pitch, very expensive ones, with Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez costing more than £100m each.

There is Romeo Lavia as well, though the 20-year-old is injured again and looks set to miss the Blues’ game against Bournemouth on the weekend.

That has got to be the aim, though, for Harrison and the other youngsters at Cobham, breaking into the senior squad one day. As difficult as it may be, it is not impossible, with Reece James and Levi Colwill already proving that.

James is now Chelsea captain, while Colwill has been an important player at Stamford Bridge so far this season, starting in all three of the team’s Premier League fixtures.