“I think you have to be strong mentally to come through a lot of stuff that I’ve gone through and a lot of stuff that a lot of footballers go through,” the left-back, who does not have injured Shaw to compete with this month, said.
“You don’t get to become a professional football player without having ups and downs, and it is a cliche but it really is about how you deal with them.
“I love playing football, so that’s what I always come back to when I when I’m going through the tough times.”
Chilwell is not alone in dealing with frustrating periods on the sidelines for Chelsea and England, with right-back Reece James laid low again right now with a hamstring complaint.
“Everyone talks about how strong we are as a team at Chelsea when me and Reece play together,” said the 26-year-old, who is captaining the Blues in James’ absence. “Of course, we want to play more together. We’re trying!
“Hopefully Reece can be back in the next few weeks and I am feeling good physically so hopefully, when Reece is back, push on and do well for the rest of the season.”
The hope at Chelsea is that Mauricio Pochettino will bring improved robustness and fitness to the group on top of on-field improvements.
Chilwell says the new head coach’s pre-season regime was as gruelling as people say, but it has left him feeling the “best I’ve felt physically in a long time”.
“The manager was constant in telling us that this is only for our benefit,” he said.
“It’s going to make our bodies more robust, we’re going to be able to play more games this season, less injuries.
“So we all completely bought into it and so far, personally, I’m feeling like that is the case and, like I said, feeling the best I felt physically in a long time.
“Hopefully I can stay injury-free for the season and then going into the summer as well.”
Chilwell is confident that with a little patience Chelsea “will come good” under Pochettino as the former Argentina international looks to shape a large squad full of new faces and promise into a coherent, effective unit.
Among the ex-Tottenham manager’s tactical tweaks in the opening weeks of the season has been a new advanced role for the 26-year-old.
“It’s not even been wing-back, it’s been on the wing,” Chilwell said. “Over the past few years, I’ve gone from left-back to left wing-back to left wing… playing striker in a few years!
