It was an afternoon session for Enzo Maresca and his Blues, with a little over 24 hours until we try to continue our flawless start to the league phase of our European campaign. We have so far beaten Gent and Panathinaikos in the Conference League, scoring four goals on each occasion.

The first 15 minutes of today’s trained was open to the world’s media. On a murky afternoon in Surrey, they saw the outfielders split into two groups and put through a series of warm-up drills. The goalkeepers trained separately, as is often the case.

As darkness descended, the players came together to work on passing, tactical and shooting exercises.

Prior to training, Maresca and Benoit Badiashile answered the media’s questions in the press room at Cobham. Maresca commented on the recent playing time enjoyed by Joao Felix, one of the stars of our win in Athens last time out in this competition.

‘I feel a shame for Joao and I would like to give him more minutes in the Premier League, but we need defensive balance and we cannot play with Joao, Cole [Palmer], Christo,’ said the head coach.

‘I’d like to put all of them on the pitch but then you need to defend, and you need the right balance. I don’t have any doubts that if Joao keeps working well, he will find his moment in the Premier League.’

Badiashile, meanwhile, looked forward to our meeting with the Armenian side looking to cause a major European upset.

‘I didn’t really know Noah, but we have worked on them with the gaffer,’ revealed the centre-back.

‘You have to stay professional every game because you don’t know what the match can be. We have to be 100 per cent focused on the game and try to win it as always.’

That sentiment was echoed by Maresca, who is not taking anything for granted.

‘I’ve said many times, today in football, you can find good players, squads, teams and managers everywhere, not only in the most important leagues in the world,’ acknowledged the head coach.

‘You can find important things, and for sure they have good players.’

Maresca will be determined to avoid a shock in SW6 tomorrow as we aim for a third straight European victory.