LONDON -- Andreas Christensen revealed that a conversation with former Chelsea captain John Terry has helped him recover from a series of recent mistakes on the pitch.
The 21-year-old's emergence as a regular starter in the heart of defence has been the bright spot of a disappointing Chelsea season, but costly errors against Barcelona and Manchester United prompted speculation that Antonio Conte could bench the youngster in favour of more experienced alternatives.
But that did not come to pass and speaking after an assured display in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup on Sunday, Christensen said he had sought out the advice of Terry, who is now at Aston Villa.
"My teammates have seen all my other performances, so they know that these mistakes aren't typical for me," Christensen told Eurosport.
"I have had a smaller talk with John Terry. He has also experienced setbacks and it is always nice to talk to someone watching it from the outside and to learn that they have experienced the same.
"He told me that it is natural to make mistakes and he tried to put it in perspective for me saying that ... we can't change a goal scored against us, so when we make mistakes it is more crucial and it is easy for people to point fingers. I have realised it, looked at it and now I have moved on."
Christensen displaced David Luiz from Conte's preferred starting line-up in November and the Brazilian's ongoing injury issues have enabled the youngster to keep playing through his recent slump -- a fact that he says has helped him to emerge stronger from the experience.
"I thought I might be out of the next match [after the errors] but I try to tell myself that before these matches I have played all the other ones almost with no mistakes at all," he said.
"I hope that is the reason I get to start, because the coach knows he can trust me, I haven't made any mistakes, but been very solid for a long period. I am focusing on all the good games I have played this season."