Chelsea Under-18s had a difficult opening to the season, but got our first win on the board against Stoke City in the Premier League Cup shortly before the September international break began.

We then added our first win in the Under-18 Premier League in our first game back after the break, when an emphatic second-half performance gave us a 6-2 home win over Aston Villa.

• How to watch Chelsea Under-18s vs West Ham live for free

Cardoso played the full 90 minutes against Villa and provided the assist for our crucial equaliser five minutes before half-time, helping us to a morale-boosting victory which will hopefully serve as the launching pad for the rest of our season, starting with tomorrow's trip to West Ham.

‘That win will give us a boost because the first few games were a bit tough for all of us, we were conceding quite a lot of goals,’ admitted Cardoso. ‘So now we just want to push on from the win that we had last week and keep getting better each week.

‘It gives us the starting point to build from and the manager has been telling us that. We just need to go into the West Ham match with the same energy that we did in the game against Aston Villa and build from there.

‘The win over Villa was about the energy and everyone working for each other and working hard for the team. And obviously being eager to score goals as well, but just helping each other and the team on the pitch.

‘It obviously felt really good to get that first win but we just want more wins. It was our first win but it’s not enough, we want to keep winning games.’

Cardoso has had a busy beginning to the season, starting all five of our Under-18s’ league games and playing three times for Portugal Under-19s during the international break earlier this month.

That is in contrast with last season, when injury forced the attacking midfielder to miss a large chunk of his first year playing full-time at this level, before returning in February and making a handful of appearances during the second half of the campaign.

He believes those problems are behind him now, though, and is eager to get back on track and make up for lost time after his promising start to 2024/25.

‘I basically missed two seasons because of a knee injury,’ he explained. ‘This summer was my first full pre-season since Under-16s. It feels good to be back but now I just need to build on it and get my minutes back up.

‘I’ve got my first proper run of games in these last few matches, so now it’s just about building myself up and getting stronger each game.

‘I went with Portugal Under-19s during the international beak too and that was my first time being called up at that level, so it felt good being back with the national team. I got minutes out there as well.

‘So it feels good to be back and playing every week, because near the end of last season when I first came back I was just getting bits of game time here and there and things like that. But now I’ve got the licence to be able to play a lot more games, so it’s about being consistent.

‘I’m just happy to be back, trying to be free and play the way I like to play on the pitch, with lots of chances to get on the ball and do what I like to do with it.’

Watch the game live

Supporters anywhere in the world can watch the match for free via the live stream in the Chelsea Under-18s vs West Ham United Match Centre on the official Chelsea website and app.