The fixtures continue to come thick and fast at this festive time of year. After a flawless start to December, the Blues have now not won either of our last two games, with the loss to Fulham just our third in the league this season.

Maresca confirmed ahead of the trip to Suffolk that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall missed that game because of injury, while Noni Madueke and Renato Veiga’s omission from the matchday squad was a ‘technical decision’.

‘We will see if we make one change or two changes or three changes, now it’s a bit early, but for sure we are going to change something,’ said Maresca as he looked ahead to Ipswich.

‘For sure after a game you need to go again, no matter the result. Especially this month. We have already played eight or nine games in December, in 26 or 27 days. Now it’s also important to recover the energy and go again on Monday.’

Following the Boxing Day setback, Maresca wants to see a response from his players as we close out what has been a year of significant development for the Chelsea team, particularly since the Italian took charge in the summer.

‘We never thought we would win every game,’ he noted.

‘We lost on the 18 August, and then after two months, and then after two months. But we know the reality is not just to lose one game every two months. It’s a matter of how we react and try to go again.'