Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori believes competition among teammates would only help the team as he aims to cement his spot under Frank Lampard.
The 22-year-old played in 15 out of 29 Premier League games the Blues have played so far this season.
It is a fairly good number, considering this has been his first year in the Premier League.
The centre-back position has been one of the of most competitive spots at Chelsea, with four players – Tomori, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen – battling for usually two spots week in, week out.
But Tomori thinks such competition has been positive for Chelsea, as it motivates each individual.
He told Chelsea’s official website: “Having competition helps the team to improve because everyone wants to play.
“You know if you want to get in the team then you have to better than the person who’s got the shirt at that time so you have to take it from them.
“Individually, it spurs you on but then it also makes the team better because everyone is going to be firing on all cylinders trying to get into the team.
“Having that breeds this friendly, competitive nature and spirit that we have and it can only be a positive thing.”
Lampard has experimented with his centre-back pairings throughout the season, with Tomori playing most of his games at the start of the campaign.
But as the season went on, the manager began to opt for the more experienced Rudiger and Christensen although, occasionally, he also rotates his players.