Ward-Prowse believes he can learn from Chelsea defeat (From Daily Echo)

Ward-Prowse believes he can learn from Chelsea defeat

7:10am Monday 7th January 2013 in Saints News

James Ward-Prowse

James Ward-Prowse believes he can learn from Saints’ 5-1 defeat against a Chelsea side who boasted almost £100m worth of talent on their subs bench.

The midfielder was handed his first start since the end of October for the third round tie at St Mary’s.

Though Chelsea left the likes of £50m Fernando Torres and £13m Paolo Ferreira on the bench, they were still able to bring on £25m Oscar to complement the likes of £30m Eden Hazard, £19.8m Ramires and £7.5m debutant striker Demba Ba.

Chelsea were also able to give some rare game time to striker Marko Marin, who cost them £7m but who has only made three Premier League appearances.

That is the reality of life at Stamford Bridge, where even multi-million pound signings struggle to get a game.

And it is also part of the reason why it’s so hard for English youngsters to shine – witness the likes of Saints’ Jack Cork and Scott Sinclair at Manchester City for two examples of players who were unable to break through at the Blues and had to leave.

Read the rest of this story, plus full match report and reaction in today's Daily Echo.