All of a sudden, for once I’m really looking forward to a little break from the Premier League. After losing to Arsenal following the away defeat at Brighton, it could be argued this might be the best thing that could happen to Chelsea after the Newcastle game on Saturday.

Even though I will be spending the World Cup working for the BBC in Qatar, and of course writing on-the-spot reports for this page while there, I like a lot of other people didn’t think the competition should take place right in the middle of the domestic league seasons for most of the planet.

I reckon most people feel the same about this as I do, but for Chelsea right now, we should understand that this November/December break has at least a little silver lining. The six-week gap will allow Graham Potter time to work on his ideas around the club, though many of his first team players will be in Qatar themselves. Even so, the breathing space will be helpful as the head space he will finally get.

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It really will be the first time the manager has had a moment to draw breath in this breathless campaign and he will have to stand back and consider his plan and the overview, especially as there is a rather important transfer window opening just days after the season restarts.

Not again!

The other hope to add on top of this is that some of our injuries clear up by the time we get back after Christmas. Missing N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana as well as Mateo Kovacic for quite a few games has had a dramatic effect on the side. I was at a Chelsea Supporters’ event on Brompton Road after the game on Sunday and many of them were echoing what had been said in the press room right after the game - the loss of our two first-choice wing-backs has dramatically changed the look of the team.

It was bad enough losing Ben and Reece together at the same time last season and they both being out for considerable periods after a brilliant start to the campaign, but for it to happen again now is bizarrely unfortunate. It really isn’t dissimilar to Liverpool losing Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold when they were flying over the past few seasons. It would have made an incredible difference to the threat levels of Jurgen Klopp’s team had those attacking defenders both been out long term at the same time.

While I write this about our missing our wing-backs, I know that we do have other systems we can use and other very capable players for those wing-back positions as well. There is a very good argument that Cesar Azpilicueta was our man of the match against Arsenal. Gabriel Martinelli has been in superb form of late, but he got very little change out of Cesar who was at his tenacious best yet again.

The important thing now is to look forward and with any luck Reece might be back soon, he might even make the World Cup for England, even if Ben will not be returning in the short term.

One to look forward to

The other excitement is of course the Champions League draw which was another thing that was timed rather perfectly to take or minds off last weekend’s result.

Borussia Dortmund are a good side but by the time the two games are played against the Germans in February and in March, with any luck this last week will be long forgotten.

Anyway, we have great memories of playing against German Bundesliga outfits in European competition over the years. There have been 12 wins and only five defeats in the 25 meetings and who can forget Munich in 2012 when we were such incredible underdogs but still found a way to finally become champions of Europe for the first time. We will probably gloss over the most recent tie against Bayern Munich at this point!

There is the hope that one or two players will actually get a lift not only from looking forward to that round of 16 tie in the Champions League but also from playing in the World Cup. Most people expect that the players will come back mentally and physically exhausted and that might happen to some. Others will however come back re-energised and looking forward to the next challenge after a change of scenery and a break from the constant high-energy pressure of the Premier League.

Weird though it seems, most international games have nowhere near the physical intensity of the weekly battle that is the Premier League.

It will not feel exactly like the start of a new season, but there will be some similarities for the players coming back after so long away from Cobham and Stamford Bridge.

So it isn’t beyond the bounds of possibility that there is a marked uplift and a new sunny disposition afterwards. Well maybe not literally sunny, especially if you have just left Qatar to come back to the middle of the British winter, but you know what I mean.

In the fullness of time I reckon the entire first period under our new manager will be considered little more than a warm up and a steep learning curve. He did manage to steer us into the next round of the Champions League after the team’s very poor opening game in Zagreb and only one point from the first six, yet we still won the group.

As it is we have Newcastle to look forward to. Now three points there would be the perfect tonic and also it would get us back within striking distance of the top four. I’ll take that as a very early Christmas present.