£35m Chelsea man’s display in Conference League proves he is starting to turn his fortunes around

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With all the changes Chelsea made to their squad for the Conference League match against Panathinaikos, the chance would crop up again for the fringe players to prove themselves to Enzo Maresca.

The boss decided to leave five key first team Blues at home for the trip, however this was no issue for a side who ran out 4-1 winners in Greece.

The attackers stole the show as per usual. All four of the rotated frontline contributed to at least one goal.

• READ MORE: Enzo Maresca insists that one of Chelsea’s goals vs Panathinaikos was a training ground plan

Pundit Glenn Hoddle was really impressed by Joao Felix, with him looking a player who was way too good for the Conference League.

There were strong displays at the back two, with a new-look centre-back pairing of Benoit Badiashile and Renato Veiga.

Benoit Badiashile turning fortunes around at Chelsea

Maresca was delighted by Veiga’s display out of position, however the Frenchman’s performance on his less-preferred side of defence should not go unnoticed.

Chelsea fans were not convinced by Badiashile early in the season, and there were some fears that he could become surplus to requirements in the face of a very settled Premier League partnership.

He was brought on at the weekend against Liverpool for the first time in the Premier League, and brought a calmness at the back that did not seem to exist before.

Last night saw him continue that, and start to prove that he does have the quality required to feature at the back for Chelsea.

Can Badiashile break into the Chelsea defence?

Maresca has stuck to Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana at the back in the league, with no one else really getting much of a say from the start.

Having a natural left-sided deputy to the England international is important, and would likely be expensive to find if they looked in the transfer market again.

European clubs have been linked to the signing of Badiashile, who Chelsea signed nearly two years ago for a fee of £35m.

It remains to be seen if he has done enough to convince Maresca that he should be upgraded to a Premier League start, with the Blues back in action against Newcastle United on Sunday.