Frank Lampard was pleased with the performances of teenage duo Marc Guehi and Billy Gilmour despite Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup round of 16.

Chelsea’s seven game-winning run came to an end at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as a Marcus Rashford double cancelled out Michy Batshuayi’s strike to send Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in to the quarter-finals of the competition.

Lampard took the opportunity to rotate his squad for the match, making six changes in total with Guehi replacing fellow academy graduate Fikayo Tomori in central defence and Gilmour coming into midfield in place of Mateo Kovacic.

Although Lampard was disappointed to see his team exit the competition, he took encouragement from the performances of Guehi, 19, and Gilmour, 18, saying that both proved themselves capable of playing at the top-level, report the Metro.

‘I thought Billy and Marc Guehi were both really good, Marc was as comfortable as anything,’ Lampard told BBC Radio 5 Live after the match.

‘I’ve come away from tonight – obviously, we don’t want to lose and we know where this is in the competition – but at the same time, there’s lots of positives.

‘In the bigger picture, Marc Guehi’s performance showed that he’s more than comfortable at this level and Billy the same, he was bright.

‘It was a tough first half for him because he was trying to get free, trying to be positive and it wasn’t quite happening for him in a way, but I’m really pleased to see them both play so well.’

Both Guehi and Gilmour were handed their full first-team debuts for Chelsea during the 7-1 thrashing of Grimsby Town earlier on in the competition, while the latter has also featured against Sheffield United in the Premier League.

Guehi is yet to feature for the Blues in a top-flight match but he admitted that the team will look to bounce back from their setback against United when they face Watford at Vicarage Road in the Premier League on Saturday.

‘The defeat is a tough one to take after such a good run of form, but the most important thing is to bounce back and recover and go again in the Premier League,’ Guehi said.

‘We played well in spells of the game. At half-time, the manager said to carry on what we were doing, keep moving the ball fast, but with a bit more intensity and a bit more zeal to our game.

‘That is what we tried to do and we came out fast and we came out strong. Michy scored a fantastic goal for us but unfortunately, we came away with a loss.’

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