The Portuguese winger was in the starting XI against Panathinaikos on Thursday as we made it two wins from two in the league stage of this season’s UEFA Conference League.

Neto was also introduced from the bench in our last top-flight outing, which came away at leaders Liverpool last Sunday. That fixture signalled the start of a challenging domestic run for the Blues, with back-to-back matches against Newcastle – we also meet them in the Carabao Cup next week – followed by clashes with Manchester United and Arsenal in the league.

The winger has been pleased with the character displayed by the Blues this term and hopes for more of the same as we take on the Magpies at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

‘Our group is getting better every day, and what we did showed our character, our personality, our hard-work mentality,' the 24-year-old said. 'We want to continue with that.
‘In the Premier League every game’s a test. So to go there [to Anfield], it was just another game, nothing more important or less important. It was a normal game like any other one. We went there with the personality we showed in other games, and that we will continue to show in every game.

'It's what the people in the coaching staff have said to us. This is our mentality and we have to continue working hard if we want to be on the top.'

Although now amid a fixture schedule against several Premier League sides with European ambitions, Neto says our approach must not change – something showcased at Anfield as we played on the front foot and enjoyed the larger share of possession.

‘Every game is important in the Premier League because you can play against the team that is first in the table and win and then play the team who are last and lose.

‘We know what we need to do, try to win every game because every game is tough. That’s the mentality we’re taking this season, to show we are Chelsea in every game. Not only in big games, we have to show ourselves in every game.

‘Of course, we have more difficult games, the games [people believe] are harder than the others, but we take every game the same because we know the difficulty that every team gives us. We study every team in every game, we know the difficulties that we will have.

‘I’m proud of the team and proud of the group, proud to be a part of this group, because the boys we have, we are transforming this team into a top team.’