The first 15 minutes of the session was open to the media and they saw the players put through their paces in our eye-catching new European training kit.

Before training began, Enzo Maresca and Cesare Casadei answered questions from journalists in the media room at Cobham. The Italian midfielder, fresh from starting his first game of the season against Barrow, explained what it has been like being deployed in a deeper role.

‘Last season with Enzo, I played more as a box-to-box midfielder,’ said Casadei, who worked with Maresca at Leicester until the new year.

‘This season I am training and playing as a holding midfielder and it’s good for me to learn different positions because it can help in my future career. I always have to be ready in every position the manager wants me to play and try to give my best.’

Maresca was asked about several of his players, among them Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who was not in the matchday squad for the visit of Brighton on Saturday. The midfielder was in good spirits in the Cobham rain.

‘For Kiernan and all the guys out of the squad [at the weekend], there was no physical problem,’ Maresca explained. ‘It was just my decision.

‘It happened with Kiernan last week and will happen with different players. It’s the bad part of my job, the thing I don’t prefer, but I have to do that.’

Mykhailo Mudryk was another name brought up in the media conference, with one journalist pointing to his relative lack of match action this season. Maresca reiterated how difficult it is to give each member of his squad the game time they desire.

‘They all want to play from the start but sometimes it is not possible. Against Barrow, Misha did very well. Hopefully he can do a good game tomorrow.

‘I don't think with Misha it is a lack of confidence...he needs to improve something, like the rest. But we are happy with the way he is working.

‘We can say exactly the same for [Christopher] Nkunku,’ added Maresca.

‘The club signed him [and Mudryk] as big players and at the moment, they are not playing in the Premier League. But things change quickly in football. Right now, the situation is this, but it doesn't mean it will be the same the whole season.’

Tomorrow night is another opportunity for players to stake their claim for a greater role in Maresca’s Chelsea team. We take on Gent at 8pm UK time looking to start our European campaign with a bang.