Europa League Aftermath: 'I'd be daft not to learn from Sarri'

Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek celebrates scoring the opening goal against BATE during the Europa League tie on Thursday. Pic/AFP

Ruben Loftus-Cheek insists he would be daft not to keep on learning from Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri. Loftus-Cheek, 22, fired a hat-trick as the Blues overwhelmed BATE Borisov 3-1 in Thursday's Europa League clash at Stamford Bridge.

The England midfielder's treble - his first Chelsea goals in 30 months - might not be enough to force him into the Blues's Premier League starting XI though, with Sarri demanding more defensively.

"From a manager who has been in the game a long time, it would be daft for me not to take in what he's telling me," said Loftus-Cheek. "And he's a top manager, and for me to learn from him is great for my development. And I'll keep on doing that, and keep on listening and learning in the time I'm on the pitch and in training.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri

"That's what I can do right now and as a player-manager relationship, it's work, we both have respect for each other - so this is a good relationship." Loftus-Cheek revealed the battles to perform amid limited action, but insisted he is still enjoying his challenge at Chelsea and working with Sarri. "He's asking me to improve defensively and positionally. He's very demanding with the team," said Loftus-Cheek.

"And he's so demanding on shape, but also lets you play freely as well, which is why we're playing some free-flowing football and creating some good attacking football. So it's really good work.

"There's still a long way to go. I want to keep being ambitious, improve and see how far I can go. I've never doubted my ability, it's just hard sometimes to perform at your best when you're not playing regularly. So it's important to train well, keep your good habits, eat well, sleep well, just so when nights like this come you can be as close to your best physical shape as possible," he added.

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