Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall says his first season at Chelsea “wouldn’t have been a very enjoyable time” if he had failed to turn his “frustration” at a lack of game time into a positive.
The midfielder won promotion to the Premier League with Blues boss Enzo Maresca at Leicester last season before joining the Italian in signing for Chelsea over the summer.
But the 26-year-old midfielder has had to be patient for game time during his first campaign with Chelsea.
Dewbsury-Hall has started just two Premier League matches during his first campaign at Chelsea, predominantly playing in the Europa Conference League and Carabao Cup.
He is set to start for the Blues on Thursday night in their Conference League quarter-final first leg away to Legia Warsaw, who Dewsbury-Hall faced twice while at Leicester in the Europa League in 2021.
“It’s been a learning curve,” Dewsbury-Hall said of his first season. “I’ve had to adapt and grow as a person and a player, but I expected that. I knew I’d have challenges and successes but, all in all, it’s a season where I’ve learned a great deal.
“Whenever I’m called upon, I’m ready. I’ve been working hard behind the scenes to ensure that’s the case.”
He added he has been frustrated, saying: “I want to play every game. That’s the way I am. But it’s just something I’ve had to deal with. I didn’t expect to come in and play every game, because I’m not stupid.
“I’ve had to try and use that frustration and turn it into a positive, because otherwise it just wouldn’t have been a very enjoyable time for me. But that’s the life of a footballer.”
If Chelsea win the Conference League, they will become the first club in history to have listed all three tiers of elite European competition, including the Champions League in 2012 and 2021 and Europa League in 2019.
“It would be nice to be the first European team in history to win every European competition,” he said. “That’s enough of a motivation in itself.”
