Reece James was proud of his performance for Chelsea's 3-1 win at Brighton.

James scored and produced an assist on the night.

"It was obviously a good goal, a good strike and thankfully it hit the net," James told the club's website.

"We played them in a friendly a few weeks ago and it was tough then so we knew coming here for the first game of the season, it was going to be tough again. We had to dig deep and push up a gear [after conceding] but we did that and got another two goals."

James was joined in the starting team by two new debutants – Timo Werner and Kai Havertz – and he claimed the arrival of the German duo, alongside Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva, had increased the competitiveness of the group.

"When you bring high-level players in, it's going to bring with it a lot of competition," he explained.

"It brings the competition up and makes everyone work harder to fight to get their place in the team."

"As the games go on we're only going to get stronger.

"There are still new players in the team so we have to gel, get a stronger bond and keep improving week by week."