No hesitation in making Fernandez captain - McFarlane

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Chelsea interim head coach Calum McFarlane said he didn't "hestitate" to make "exceptional" Enzo Fernandez his captain after his match-winning display at Wembley.

The 24-year-old midfielder scored a far-post header in the first half to seal a 1-0 semi-final win against Leeds on Sunday.

However, Fernandez has been a controversial figure this season having earned a two-game ban for his comments about someday moving to Spain, having been linked with a move to Real Madrid.

"I wasn't hesitant to make him captain," McFarlane said, adding: "I said that to him at the end, I said, 'you like scoring at the back post for me'. And he just laughed.

"He does that really well, he's done it all year. He's a winner, he's got so much talent, he's got so much fight, he's massive for this group. And the best thing about Enzo is that he can do a bit of everything, but when it gets tough, you see the fight in him, you see him driving the group on, you see him making tackles, you see him fighting for every loose ball.

"So he was exceptional today and deserved man of the match."

One of the main reasons Chelsea opted to change Rosenior mid-season, according to multiple BBC Sport sources, was because he lost the support of the dressing room.

That has led the mentality of the players to be questioned by media and supporters alike, but McFarlane was glad they showed fight on Sunday afternoon.

"I thought our character and drive was brilliant," McFarlane told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Tactics go out of the window at times but I thought the fight, the set-pieces and the character of the group was exceptional.

"It has been questioned and perhaps rightly so at times, maybe, but that is us at our best and I think we need to show that level as much as we can because that is what this group is capable of. There is a lot of winners in that changing room and I am happy we showed that today.