The opening 19 minutes of this afternoon’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge were dominated by Maresca’s side. Chances were created with regularity, and Nicolas Jackson struck the post, Levi Colwill saw a header saved, and Noni Madueke and Enzo Fernandez both went close.

That we didn’t score the goal our performance, to that point, deserved proved costly, as Julio Enciso struck against the run of play and then Ben Johnson headed home to put the Tractor Boys two goals ahead at the interval.

A much-improved second half followed from the Blues, and we pulled a goal back 18 seconds after the restart when Axel Tuanzebe turned the ball into his own net. Jadon Sancho then struck a fine equaliser with 11 minutes to play, but we had left ourselves with just too much to do and had to settle for a point.

‘I think we started quite well, creating chances, then when they scored the first goal, the dynamic of the game completely changed,’ reflected Maresca. ‘I think from then until the end of the first half, we were not good enough, especially defensively, because the two goals we conceded were both from our mistakes.

‘I think that both goals we conceded, we can defend better. But if you analyse both goals, the first goal is from an Enzo long ball and then we concede. The second is a goal kick, a long ball and we concede.

'We probably lost a little bit of confidence inside the pitch because we were in control and playing well. We lost this little bit of confidence because it’s a game we must win, so when we are one goal behind [it’s difficult]. But in that moment, my message at half time was that we need to react and we can’t continue in the same way we were in the final 25 minutes of the first half.’

Maresca got the response he wanted from his players, but emphasised that the Blues should have taken full command of the game in the opening exchanges rather than needing to launch a fight back when behind.

He said: ‘It’s tough, it’s tough. In the first 20 minutes, at this stage of the season against these kinds of teams, if you score the first goal then the game completely changes on your side. Unfortunately, we missed chances and then conceded, and I think the team wasn’t good enough in different things [for the rest of the first half].

‘This is where we have to take a step forward and react in the right way. I think we lost a little bit of confidence because we conceded and the environment, this is the moment where you have to continue doing the right things and don’t change the plan.

'We are a team that most of the time, our goal kicks start with playing short, but the second goal we play long and concede. So you have to be strong and continue with the things you are doing.

‘In the second half, we were our team. We were in our way, creating many chances, playing on the opposite sides, and were much more dynamic. We were much better second half.’