Goals either side of half-time put the Blues 2-0 ahead before Cochrane’s goal in the closing stages, and Rusk reflected on his team’s performance against the unbeaten PL2 league leaders.
He said, “There are some positives to take from tonight — we were pretty much in the game at all times against a strong Chelsea side.
“We’re fairly young and inexperienced in terms of the whole group, and I thought the first goal from our point of view was disappointing, and we had to absorb a lot of pressure.
“When we changed the system, I felt we got a foothold back in. We had some really good chances but didn’t take them at key moments in the game.
“I thought we deserved our goal at the end, but there’s lots to learn from tonight and we’ll certainly be better for it.”
Highly-rated youngsters Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James returned from injury for the Blues in west London, and Rusk explained his decision to go with a 3-4-3 formation — similar to that used by Albion’s first team this season.
“We looked at who might be playing for Chelsea and we felt the new shape might give us the best chance of denying them space in the last third of the pitch.
“There are lots of things that we could have done better, but that’s what this football is, it’s about trying new things and pushing the players to work outside of their comfort zones.”
Albion created a handful of chances to draw level before Chelsea’s second goal at the Bridge, and Rusk challenged his players to show more confidence on the pitch ahead of next week’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.
“When you play a game at Stamford Bridge, even at under-23 level, you’re going to have to defend well, ride your luck a bit and take your chances — but unfortunately we didn’t.
“The players need to show more self-belief. Too many people didn’t show that self-belief and you can’t play football like that.
“Of course you have to be respectful of the opponent, but you also need the ambition to individually compete and go a step further than the direct person you’re playing against on the pitch."