Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Tosin Adarabioyo could walk out at Stamford Bridge for the first time as Chelsea players when we take on Inter Milan on Sunday 11 August – and our new signings have underlined the importance of finishing pre-season with a flourish in front of our home support.
Dewsbury-Hall and Tosin are currently in the midst of our 2024 USA Tour, and when our time Stateside concludes with a game against Real Madrid in Charlotte, the Blues will return to London and start preparing for the visit of the Italian champions.
It will be our final test before the reigning Premier League champions, Man City, come to SW6 on the top flight's opening weekend, less than two weeks after the teams face each other in Ohio.
Inter's visit will be a fantastic afternoon and a fascinating encounter. For several of our players, among them Dewsbury-Hall and Tosin, there will be extra resonance as they could get their first taste of what it’s like to be a home player at Stamford Bridge.
‘I can’t wait,’ enthused Dewsbury-Hall. ‘I’ve played at Stamford Bridge a couple of times now. It’s an unbelievable ground, one of my favourite to play at.
'I’ve not had the best of luck there when I’ve played, but I’m hoping I’ll be on the winning end now most of the time playing for Chelsea. It’s a fantastic stadium and the crowd are so loud when they get going. As a player that’s exactly where you want to be.
‘Hopefully, come that Inter Milan game, we’ve got a full stadium and we can put on a show for the fans because a week after that it’s the start of the Premier League season. It’s a final test to show people where we are at and take it into the new season.’
Like Dewsbury-Hall, Tosin has experience playing at the Bridge as an opposition player. The next time he does so, he will be in blue.
‘It will be really exciting,’ the defender said. ‘Stepping out at our home stadium in front of the home supporters will be great and hopefully, we’ll be able to get a positive result going into the season. It will be a big game against the Italian champions.
‘Everything between now and the start of the season is about preparing for that first league game at Stamford Bridge so everything is fully focused on that.’
For Dewsbury-Hall, playing against Italian opposition conjures memories of a career highlight.
The midfielder scored his first goal for his boyhood club Leicester City in a Europa League group game away to Napoli in December 2021, midway through Dewsbury-Hall’s breakout campaign for the Foxes.
‘I’ve got a pretty good record against Italian teams so I’m hoping to continue that, to be fair!’ he laughs.
‘It’ll be a great test. It’s good to have teams like Inter Milan in pre-season. Serie A champions, it gives you a good indication of where you’re at. You’d rather play against the top teams just to test yourself and see where you’re going from there.’