Since the October international break, Enzo Maresca's side have come through a difficult period which saw us host Newcastle United and Arsenal in the Premier League and travel to Liverpool and Manchester United in the same competition.

Several strong performances, including in our tightly-contested 1-1 London derby draw with the Gunners on Sunday, mean we go into the current international break third in the table, seven places higher than at the same stage last season.

For Cucurella, that is a clear sign of the progress made during the early stages of Maresca’s tenure as head coach, even if defender knows we can’t be satisfied and need to keep pushing for more when the domestic campaign resumes in two weeks.

‘We finish now in the top four before the international break, so I think we are starting to do things well,’ said the left-back before joining up with the Spanish national team alongside Robert Sanchez for their upcoming Nations League games.

‘It’s early and we still have a lot of games to play, but we need to be proud of the job we’ve been doing and keep working hard because the league is long and we want to stay at the top.

‘We started a new project with a new manager and new ideas only a few months ago, so we need to be proud of the performance. We need to keep going at this level. If we play hard and train hard I think we can do good things this season. We have top players and a top young squad with a lot of ambition.

‘For sure it’s early, so we have a lot of things to improve. Going into the international break third signifies that we are doing things well but we cannot relax. We need to keep working and be ambitious. We have the talent but we need to show on the pitch every week that we deserve to stay in the top four.’

Cucurella highlighted the role Maresca’s leadership has played in our promising start to the season, with our position in the Premier League table matched by a 100 per cent record in the league stage of the Conference League; we are top of the table at the halfway mark and well placed to progress to the last 16 in Europe.

However, he also feels the players’ eagerness to learn and embrace the new attacking possession-based philosophy of our Italian head coach has played an important role.

‘He’s a top manager,' added Marc. 'He’s bringing new ideas, every day he tries to teach us and we want to learn. We have a lot of different things to improve, but I think it is part of the project and there is a long way to go.

‘We need to keep focusing on everything. The manager has brought some new ideas for sure but it’s early, we have not been together for a long time, so we need to keep going. Every day is a new opportunity to learn and to help the team.

‘It’s a little too soon to have everything perfect, but we have learned some things. We try to improve and we have a top squad with many young players. We are in a good way, we need to keep working hard and to be proud of what we have been doing.’

The attitude within the squad has been crucial in a different way too. With a large group full of talent at his disposal, Maresca has been able to rotate his side from week to week and competition to competition.

Cucurella is one of several players to display patience this term. He hadn't started our previous three matches before coming into the side against Arsenal, but ended the 90 minutes against the Gunners as the Player of the Match.

According to the defender, that is just down to the whole squad being willing to put the needs of the team first.

‘I’m very happy. I try to help the team, put everything on the pitch and then see. This was an important game for us, for our fans. We tried to do our best and we have a top team.

‘We have a big squad with top players, so one day you need to play the game, and other times you need to rest and stay on the bench. I try to do my best as always and then the manager will decide.

‘The most important thing is the team. We want to win and everyone wants to do his job, so we try to help the team. We would all prefer the three points to Man of the Match. It’s part of the game. We just need to keep going and believe in ourselves.’