Chelsea are running the risk of losing Michael Mancienne before the defender has made a first-team appearance for the club. The England Under-21 player is due for contract talks in the summer, when he will have 12 months left on his existing deal, but is disillusioned about the lack of first-team opportunities he has been given at Stamford Bridge.

Mancienne was recalled by Luiz Felipe Scolari a fortnight ago from a successful loan spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers — the Coca-Cola Championship leaders lost only one of the ten matches in which he played — but has yet to get a look-in at Chelsea. The 21-year-old was on the bench for the FA Cup third-round tie against Southend United 11 days ago, when Scolari paired Ricardo Carvalho and Branislav Ivanovic at centre back, and is unlikely to feature in the replay at Roots Hall this evening after playing for the reserve team against Fulham on Monday.

Mancienne has been at Chelsea since he was 9, but is reluctant to commit his long-term future to a club for whom he has yet to feature and will have no shortage of offers from elsewhere. The former England Under-19 captain has spent much of the past two years on loan at Queens Park Rangers, but his game developed to a new level at Wolves and he became a regular for Stuart Pearce’s under-21 side. Mancienne was called into the senior squad for England’s friendly against Germany in Berlin last November on Pearce’s recommendation and although he did not play, Fabio Capello, the manager, was impressed with him in training.

Chelsea have not produced a home-grown first-team player since John Terry came through the youth set-up ten years ago and will want to keep Mancienne because they are under pressure to justify Roman Abramovich’s huge investment in their new academy.