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Rio Ferdinandhas praisedTammy Abrahamfor proving his doubters wrong and seizing his opportunity atChelseathis season.
Abraham netted in the 22 nd minute on his 22 nd birthday to get Chelsea off to the perfect start in their Champions League group stage clash with Lille on Wednesday evening.
Victor Osimhen leveled for the Ligue 1 outfit to set up a tense second half, but Willian’s controlled volley in the 77 th minute sealed a 2-1 victory for Frank Lampard’s side.
Abraham’s strike took his goal tally to eight in all competitions this term andN’Golo Kante highlighted the young forward’s importanceto the team following their win.
Manchester United legend Ferdinand also reserved special praise for Abraham in theBT Sportstudio after the Group H clash.
‘Do you know what I love about him? It’s that when he was at Chelsea and he was scoring loads of goals, they had Dominic Solanke and everyone in the house thought that he was the one. They thought Solanke was better than him, ’the former United and England defender said.
‘He’s had to go out on loan, he’s had to go and prove himself at various clubs in the Championship.
‘He’s had to show people that he’s made of the right stuff.
‘He’s come back. Yeah, he’s been fortunate in terms of the situation at Chelsea but again, character.
‘You can have all the ability in the world but if you haven’t got the character and the nous to see a situation and say “I’m gonna take that”… he’s done that.
‘He’s doing that right now and he’s improving game by game. It’s great to see. ’
Glenn Hoddle added: ‘He’s gonna be one hell of a player in two or three seasons time.
‘There’s going to be quite a few for Chelsea. It’s an exciting time for Chelsea fans for the future.
‘You hope that Frank is given the time. If they keep performing like that for him he will be given the time. ’
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