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Maid in Chelsea
I was coached by Chelsea legend John Terry and now want to make my own FA Cup history with lowest-ranked side left in
Rising non-league star could have no better tutor as he aims for giant-killing
PAUL APPIAH hopes to put what he learned from John Terry to good use as Maidstone bid to make more history.
The National League South side host League One high-fliers Stevenage today in their first third round appearance since reforming in 1992.
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And on-loan Leicester defender Appiah, 21, could not have learned from anyone better about what it takes in the FA Cup than five-time winner JT.
Appiah was coached by the Chelsea and England legend when he was a kid at the Blues youth academy — and then met him again after moving to Aston Villa, where JT was assistant to Dean Smith.
The rookie spent two years at Chelsea from the age of 14 and then three at Villa.
And he told SunSport: “John Terry would come over and take sessions with us. It was a dream come true meeting someone I looked up to and watched a lot as a Chelsea fan — so to have a session training with him was out of this world.
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“I had conversations with him and although it was a lot to take in as a kid I was so happy and excited.
“Generally he’d go around giving everyone tips, encouragement and would push us on in the session.
“He’d lead the training and was giving me tips on defending. He took on a group session with defenders. It was about positioning and being loud on the pitch. It was great.”
During that time, Appiah made the transition from going to school in his local Tottenham Hale area to the one at Chelsea, which fused football and education.
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And once the youngster finished his programme with the Blues aged 16 he decided to move to Aston Villa — where he ran into JT again.
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He said: “Villa wanted to take me on and JT had just switched from being a player there to part of the first-team coaching staff.
“So my dad and I went over there and had a conversation with him. He remembered me and gave lots more advice. I learned so much.
“The one thing that always caught my eye about Terry was his aggression and the way he led the team as captain. He was always making sure his team-mates were doing the right things. That’s what I like to implement in my game as well.
“With the aggressive side of the game, he was solid and always got in there to do the dirty work. That’s what a defender should be like.”
Appiah was part of the Villa squad that won the FA Youth Cup in 2022 and he played alongside Aaron Ramsey, now at Burnley, and Louie Barry, currently on loan at Stockport.
He joined Leicester in the summer of 2022 and, after playing four games in the EFL Trophy for the Foxes’ Under-21s team, was loaned to Maidstone in November.
And Appiah said: “Playing here is a different kind of game. There’s a lot more action in the air. You must be more physical, switched on and game management is so important.
“You must make sure you deal with set-pieces, corners and the messy stuff.
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“I knew there would be lots of long balls that I’d have to deal with and coming here is definitely helping my game because it’s focussed me on a lot of defensive work.
“I’ve been learning, developing and playing with older players with a lot of experience.”
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And his first taste of FA Cup action came in the last round as the Stones toppled League Two Barrow — but the task for the lowest-ranked team left in the competition is going to be greater against wily Steve Evans’ men.
Appiah said: “It’s going to be a big test and we must make sure we do what we can right. People didn’t think we could beat Barrow and look how that turned out. We’re going to be positive and proud and fight for each other.”
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