Although we are still in with a chance in four different knockout competitions, the task of lifting a trophy in 2021/22 took a setback at the weekend when we were beaten 1-0 at Manchester City, leaving us 13 points behind our opponents at the top of the Premier League table, but Werner insists that result hasn’t knocked the team’s confidence.

‘We still have the belief that in the Premier League it can change very quickly, but of course we also know how good City is, especially in the league, and when they have a lead like this they are very hard to beat.,’ he said.

‘We have enough to win this year still, we are in the Champions League, we are in the final of the Carabao Cup, we are still in the FA Cup, we have the Club World Cup coming up. We have a lot of chances to win titles this year so there is no time to let our heads go down because of what happened at the weekend.’

The task of getting back to winning ways begins this evening with another Premier League away trip, this time at Brighton & Hove Albion, a side which impressed Werner a lot when we played them at Stamford Bridge earlier this season, even if he was sidelined with an injury at the time.

‘When you play against a team like Brighton it is very dangerous because they have not the biggest name, but they play football like the big names. When they played here and we drew against them, I was sitting in the stands because I was injured, and I was very impressed with how they play football.

‘They have a very good style of football, direct up front and also playing without fear. So they are a very good team and you have to be very careful to play against them because they can switch the speed up very quickly.’

Looking at his own individual performance, the German striker admits it has been a difficult couple of months, with his momentum interrupted first by injury and then Covid, and he revealed that he found it particularly hard to recover from the latter as he suffered from severe fatigue.

‘This season when I was in good shape I got the injury. I came back and scored two goals in my second game after injury against Zenit in the Champions League, and then I got Covid. So it was a hard time, sometimes also to come back, but in this team I think I can come back to where I have been and I try my best every day.

‘It surprised me that I got Covid so late, because usually when there is flu or a cold going around I get it very quickly! So I was lucky that I got it so late, but I had a lot of symptoms and I felt very tired.

‘I did not have too many symptoms that made me feel bad, I think for most people it would not have been so bad, but as a professional footballer who has to run for 90 minutes or train the whole day, it was not possible to come back fast because I felt too tired just after going up stairs or something, so I struggled with that.’

However, Timo is determined to put those problems behind him and get back to his best with Chelsea to help us lift silverware, to show his gratitude to the fans for the fantastic support they have continued to give him through those difficulties, leaving even the striker surprised with the strength of their backing on occasion.

‘Sometimes even I don’t know why they are supporting me so much, because as a striker you want to score as many goals as possible and sometimes I miss this aim, I have to be honest about that. It makes it a lot of fun to play in front of the Chelsea fans and when they give you the support like they give to me it makes you even stronger when you miss chances or have hard times.

‘On the other side, I try to give my best in every game, to give 100 per cent every time, so that the fans are happy at the end, and also so the team are happy at the end. It’s hard to explain, but of course when you go into the stadium and the fans like you and they support you and they sing your name it makes it much more fun and makes you more proud. I say this because I know what it’s like to go to stadiums where the fans don’t like you and hate you, so it’s very nice and very good to feel this way around. ‘