It is said that in nature the key to survival is the ability to adapt to your surroundings, and that also appears to have been the case for Chelsea Under-18s' FA Youth Cup campaign, following Sunday’s 2-0 win at Everton to keep our chances of winning the competition alive.

Hassan Sulaiman and his team had to overcome the early set-back of a red card for Kaiden Wilson, leaving us to play 81 minutes of the game with 10 men, but we adjusted our shape and proved to be too good for the Toffees, as goals in each half from Donnell McNeilly and Tyrique George gave us the victory.

‘We came away with a really pleasing win in difficult circumstances,’ said Sulaiman. ‘We had started the game pretty well, considering the conditions weren’t great – there were high winds which meant that we couldn’t play as many long passes as we might have liked, after talking about switching play and getting in behind their defence.

‘So, we were always going to have to amend our game plan slightly for those reasons, but then our approach was obviously affected by having a player sent off very early in the game and we had to adapt really quickly.

‘We changed shape at that point to a 3-4-1-1. We sat in a mid-block, allowed their centre-backs to have the ball, and picked the right moments to go and engage them. We just kept adapting our tactics to make sure we contained them for as long as possible and pounced on second balls and opportunities to regain possession.

‘That was really good to see because the boys showed the ability to adapt in a high-pressure situation. Some of them had to play in a number of different positions and we changed our tactics completely, so they had to draw on their character and resilience.’

Sulaiman has spoken throughout this season about how important some of the tests his players have overcome could be, building vital experience for youngsters to draw upon should similar situations occur in the future.

He believed this match was evidence of that, as memories of how we had managed to come from behind to secure victory with 10 men away at Tottenham in the Premier League Cup in October ensured our belief in victory remained even after the early red card.

‘Those experiences are invaluable when you find yourself in situations like we did at Everton on Sunday. The boys had to draw on all that experience, adjust our game plan to achieve the right outcome.

‘Not long into the second half, we decided to adopt a 4-4-1, as we had done at Tottenham with 10 men previously. It allowed us to be compact, structured, defend the box and not allow them to play between the lines.

‘We just made sure that we were really difficult to beat without the ball, and then looked to be expansive, but in a measured way, when we had the opportunity to go forward.

‘Being a man down, we knew we wouldn’t be able to commit as many bodies higher up the field as we would have liked. We had to be calculated, play off second balls, be really decisive in what we did, and try to minimise mistakes.’

Furthermore, George’s second-half goal which made victory safe with a two-goal lead came about as a direct result of those tactical switches throughout the game.

‘We tried to encourage Tyrique not to stay as wide as he had done, because of the fact we had one less body in central positions. So we wanted him to come in off the line more often, rather than holding the width, and he did that really well.

‘His goal came as a result of him being in a midfield position. He was able to find some space, then produce a fabulous turn to lose his man in the box, and score with a left-footed strike that went in off both posts, which made it look all the more special.’

Sulaiman also felt it important to stress the important contribution from those coming off the bench during the game, which has been a recurring theme in this competition as our substitutes also played a crucial role in the victory over Leicester in the last round.

‘I want to give a big mention to the subs, because no one wants to be on the bench in the FA Youth Cup and if I could pick 20 players to be on the pitch, I would. It’s always a challenge for the coach to try and select a team that’s able to win the game, and the ones who are selected love the coaches, while the ones who aren’t hate the coaches!

‘The subs who came on showed a top attitude, carried out the game plan and were resilient and effective. They helped the team to get over the line and emphasised the togetherness of the group, not to mention the squad depth and the talent that we have.’