The Blues head to Suffolk to face Kieran McKenna’s side at Portman Road and despite their position in the relegation zone of the Premier League table, Maresca has nothing but admiration for the work the Northern Irishman has undertaken at Town since arriving three years ago.

McKenna, who was working as a coach at Manchester United, arrived at Portman Road to find a side languishing in League One – the third tier of English football – before going on to record back-to-back promotions to lead Ipswich back into the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.

Town returned to the top flight alongside Leicester City - led to the title by Maresca before his switch to Stamford Bridge - and our head coach knows just how tough a challenge a McKenna side will present the Blues tonight from their time together in the Championship.

‘All the Premier League games are complicated, no matter who the other team is,’ Maresca said ahead of tonight’s game in Suffolk.

‘Every game we play is complicated, and you also see how you can struggle to beat teams. That’s because every match in the Premier League is difficult. The Ipswich game will be exactly the same.

‘Kieran McKenna is doing fantastic. Since he joined Ipswich a few years ago, they are doing top. Even this year they are doing well. I would like to say congratulations to him for the job he is doing ever since he joined the club.’

The Blues will strive to defeat Ipswich and end the calendar year with victory, as we head into 2025. Maresca knows how important momentum is and will hope defeat to Fulham last time out proves to be just a momentary blip.

‘It’s very important,’ Maresca said of building momentum.

‘We are going to try to prepare for the game in the way we always try to, which is to win the game.

‘We have bad feelings about the last game we lost against Fulham, and hopefully we can come back with three points after this game.’