Thanks to our 2-0 win in the first leg of our Conference League play-off tie, a narrow 2-1 loss in Switzerland was enough to see us through to the main stage of the competition, thanks to Christopher Nkunku's first-half penalty at the Stade de Geneve.

Last night's match also saw the welcome sight of a young Academy player making their senior debut. George had been an unused substitute in the Premier League on three occasions last season and featured in pre-season, but the 18-year-old winger came on for Madueke to make his senior debut with just under half an hour left to play in Geneva.

'I think he was good,' said Maresca when asked about George's debut performance. 'I was very happy for him to make his debut. The most important thing is he was not shy because he played with personality. This is important for a young player.

'We also had Josh Acheampong on the bench, we had Harrison McMahon with us too but unfortunately he was not on the bench. We try to give them some minutes.

'The idea is to slowly, slowly build something important with them and also with the other Academy players.'

The man George replaced on our right flank against Servette has also had a good week. After netting his first Chelsea hat-trick against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend, Madueke received his maiden senior international call-up for England yesterday.

He is joined in the squad by Blues teammates Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer for the Three Lions' upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, and Maresca couldn't be happier to see his players' performances being recognised at international level.

He said: 'I’m very happy, Noni absolutely deserves it, he’s doing very well. As I said after the Wolves game, now the most important thing for him is don’t drop anything, continue to work hard.

'We are happy for him, for Levi, for Cole and for all the guys who are going to go and play international football.'