Therefore, our head coach is comfortable with Chelsea having not spent to add to the squad in January and although he admits the player pool was stretched thinly in recent weeks, when he spoke about that pressure at the time, it was not a way of insisting that more players were needed. With the transfer window closed, it is a subject he speaks further about now.‘When I described the situation that we lacked key players and we lacked maybe points because of this, I just described the situation - there were no messages to the board or to [director] Marina [Granovskaia],’ Tuchel clarifies.‘If I want to give a message I can go to my phone and call her or directly can do a meeting.

‘So it was just to give my opinion why maybe things in the league table and the results and the style of play do not work out like we want them to work out. For me the reasons are the injuries and Covid and that we had the toughest schedule.‘Of course we looked into the transfer market,’ he adds. ‘Of course we were informed what is possible. Of course people offered us players. But you have to calm down the noise around it and it has to make sense. To make sense you need a big package because you need the quality, the personality and the position.‘Players like Malang Sarr stepped up when they played lately so considering the opportunities, it left us with the decision not to do anything, and it was a decision we took together.’

I’m very calm

With the composition of the squad now settled for the rest of the season, Tuchel considers how well we are equipped for the challenges ahead.‘I hope we have no more injuries and I hope we don't struggle so much from Covid,’ he states.

‘I trust the players and like I said, some players really stepped up like Malang. Trevor Chalobah is now in a better shape after his re-injury and we have Andreas Christensen back in the group.‘We experimented a little with a new system and a new formation that gives us a better chance to be a bit more flexible and have some new positions where we can improve from there.‘I’m very calm. I still have trust in what we have. Everybody needs to step up and of course the group is not very big, we can struggle when we have injuries, but if there are doubts [over a transfer in], I have learned better not to do it and to trust in what we have, and also my job is to find solutions and bring out the best in all of us.’

Plan for Plymouth

And despite having used several Academy players in cup games this season, it will be from his main squad that Tuchel will select today’s team to take on Plymouth in the FA Cup.‘This game is not about the youngsters,’ he explains. ‘It is about being ready again after one week break and one week of training. It's about being ready to win the next game and restart the engines.‘All the respect to the young guys, I'm happy with them when we needed them, they performed very well, but the professional squad will take care of the Plymouth game.’