When the Chelsea team walked off the pitch following the first part of this week's double-header against Aston Villa on Wednesday evening there were satisfied smiles all round among the backroom staff.

It was not only the 4-1 scoreline which pleased the coaching staff but the fact that five of the players finishing the match were home-grown products. When the two teams meet in the Premiership today Chelsea's budding youngsters will, most probably, be back watching from the stands.

Wednesday saw Mark Nicholls and Jody Morris make their first starts of the season, Jon Harley and Neil Clement came on as substitutes for their first appearances this term and John Terry make his debut.

The Chelsea coach Graham Rix said afterwards: "The young lads who came on did exceptionally well and it was a good chance for them to show what they are made of. They don't get many chances for first-team football and it was a credit to the club that we could field five good homegrown players."

Aston Villa, the team who have been heralded as exhibiting true British grit with their 10 English first-team regulars, fielded five home-grown players on Wednesday. Arsenal, who played Derby County on the same night, fielded one.

Over the past few seasons cynics claim that Chelsea have set the pattern for the modern English game, paying top dollar for high-earning foreign stars and then installing those seasoned professionals in the first team.

That might please the fans when it brings home the silverware but what impact does it have on Chelsea's youth policy and, more importantly, what hope does it give to the club's brightest prospects of breaking into the first team?

Frank Sinclair, a Chelsea youth product, said when he joined Leicester City at the start of the season: "It is difficult for homegrown players at Chelsea but it is also difficult being brought in because the squad is so big. There are 16 or 17 internationals.

"It is especially difficult for the youngsters because they are going to be the last to be looked at. There is a lot of good young talent at Chelsea but I wouldn't be surprised if people move on."

Other young British players to have done just that include Muzzy Izzet, who also joined Leicester City, Danny Granville, signed from Cambridge but sold on to Leeds, Nick Crittenden, loaned last week to Plymouth, and Craig Burley, who joined Celtic.

Chelsea have prided themselves on their youth policy in the past, discovering and nurturing the likes of Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Peter Bonetti, Terry Venables, the Harris brothers Ron and Allan, and Ray Wilkins.

The club spend around £1 million each year on their youth policy and currently have two of the brightest youth prospects in England: the striker Leon Knight, aged 15, who scored 35 goals at Lilleshall last season, and the goalkeeper Rhys Evans.

Their chairman Ken Bates insists that having world-class internationals helps to attract talented youngsters, not drive them away. "We are totally committed to our youth policy," he says. "Young kids want to come here because of the quality of our senior professionals. Look at how much they learn, and they are able to see how a good professional should work.

"Given a choice between a Gascoigne or Zola, who would a talented youngster rather be around? The only way a youngster improves is by being around players who are professional both on and off the pitch."

Bates claims that despite some of the frustration felt by fringe players at not breaking into the first team, Chelsea will reap the rewards in five years' time.

Ultimately, the club insist, if a player is good enough he will break into the first team, although Michael Duberry is the only home-grown player to hold down a regular first-team place. (Graeme Le Saux was sold off to Blackburn and bought back for a much-increased fee.)

Gwyn Williams, who has been involved with Chelsea's youth set-up since 1979 and is the player-manager Gianluca Vialli's assistant, said: "Our emphasis is on quality and not quantity. We sign six apprentices each year and the maximum that we have during a season is 12. That means we can do a lot of work with them and they get the chance to play regular football.

"People keep saying that we don't produce our own players but that's just not true."

In previous years players like Sinclair were able to break through because, quite simply, the team were not as successful as they are now. It would take a remarkably gifted young player to dislodge Le Saux or Marcel Desailly. Will they ever get the chance when the seasoned professionals are fighting for first-team places?

More fringe players may yet leave in search of first-team football. Chelsea's investment in youth could benefit other clubs, as the performances this season of Sinclair and Izzet for Leicester City have suggested.

Osgood fears that trying to attract the best in Europe, while it might lead to success, could also eventually lead to an exodus of the best youngsters.

"I would like to see some of the youngsters given a chance in the first team," Osgood says. "It's ridiculous that sometimes there's not a single home-grown player on the pitch. It can't be good for the future of the game and for the future of Chelsea. Ultimately the talented youngsters will end up looking at other clubs."