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Antonio Conte has backed Ruben Loftus-Cheek to play in a more advanced position for Chelsea this season. Loftus-Cheek, 20, has played as a central midfielder in outings for Chelsea and England until now, but Conte has seen something in him he believes can adapt to his and used the youngster in attack alongside Michy Batshuayi during the friendly win against RZ Pellets. Conte told Chelsea's official website: "Every manager has their own idea about a system of play. In this system, with two midfielders, Ruben can play close to the other forward but become a forward when we have the ball. "He has the right characteristics to play in this position. Ruben is young with great potential. I like him a lot in the position of striker. He can improve a lot because he has great potential, good technique, good personality and he is good one versus one." Meanwhile, Loftus-Cheek has welcomed the hard working mentality Conte has introduced to Chelsea, claiming he is already feeling in better condition than at the same stage last preseason. When asked if he was enjoying life under the former Italy manager, Loftus-Cheek said: "Definitely. He's a strong character with a lot of passion and I think he's the right man for the job. We respect him so much and trust his work so I think it's going to be a good season. "We're doing double sessions every day and it's very hard but it's good for us. I already feel better than I did at this stage last year, hopefully I can pick it up even more as we go along and be ready and raring to go for the start of the season. "We've been working really hard in training and trying to get used to the formation the boss wants us to play, and we did well, so I'm really happy."
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