Having wrapped up the league phase of our Conference League campaign on Thursday evening – and doing so with our sixth successive victory in the competition – Maresca and his players turn their attention firmly to our festive fixture schedule.

That begins with a trip to Goodison on Sunday afternoon for what may be the Blues' last visit to the famous old stadium; the Toffees will relocate to a newly-constructed home at Bramley-Moore Dock ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Maresca will be able to call upon Joao Felix after the Portugal international returned to action in our victory over Shamrock Rovers. Noni Madueke is also in contention to feature as his substitution at half-time of that game was pre-planned.

Lavia was absent against Brentford in our last Premier League outing due to a hamstring issue and wasn't registered in our Conference League squad for the league phase, so couldn't feature on Thursday. Whether the midfielder makes the trip to Merseyside remains to be seen, as Maresca explained in his pre-match press conference.

‘Joao is back, you saw Joao [against Shamrock Rovers], but Romeo will probably struggle to play on Sunday,' said the Blues head coach. 'But we will see tomorrow [Friday].

Maresca was then asked about the availability of defensive duo Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile. He replied: ‘Both are still out and will still be out for a long period.’

There was better news regarding club captain Reece James, who has been undertaking his recovery from a hamstring injury at Cobham over the past month. There is no timeframe on the 25-year-old's return nor will he be rushed in his recovery.

Yet Maresca did state the Academy graduate would undertake part of today's training session at Cobham. ‘Reece will start with us for part of the session. So slowly, slowly is moving forward. That doesn’t mean he will be with us on Sunday or next Sunday.

'Tomorrow, part of the session will be with him managed then it’s building the right condition for him.’