Pochettino has had to contend with injuries on a regular basis this season – with 14 missing for the win over Tottenham Hotspur on May 2 – but in recent weeks our head coach has been able to welcome back several first team players.

Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi, Malo Gusto, Christopher Nkunku and Raheem Sterling all returned to the squad for the West Ham win and on Saturday they were joined on the bench by Reece James and Lesley Ugochukwu at Nottingham Forest.

Gusto and Nkunku were among those to be introduced as substitutes on Saturday, whilst a moment of quality from Sterling led to the equaliser and James’ outstanding cross minutes after his arrival led to Nicolas Jackson’s winner.

Tomorrow night sees our penultimate game of the season away to Brighton & Hove Albion and Pochettino was asked in his pre-match press conference about the prospect of the returning players featuring.

He said: ‘The players that have arrived from injury need time [to regain full fitness] and we don’t have time. We need to play and start games with players who can cope for 90 minutes.

‘We will see if the injured players can cope with some minutes [on Wednesday night]. We have the names and bodies, but they are not 100% to play and cope with the demands of the Premier League for 90 minutes at the moment.’

James’ impact from the bench on Saturday was remarkable, as his world-class cross created the match-winning goal for Jackson.

And Pochettino confirmed his captain is in contention for more game time, from the bench, at Brighton.

‘He said: ‘Reece is training well and now we need to control the game time because we want him to finish the season really strong.

‘He is doing really well and we hope tomorrow he will have the possibility to play a little bit more than against Forest.’

It was also confirmed today that Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are back in team training, although Pochettino highlighted that tomorrow may come too soon for the pair.

He said: ‘It was very good news last game to have many players back on track. I think Chilly is really close but not 100% ready to be part of the squad, Carney Chukwuemeka also.

‘We need to assess whether both can be part of the squad tomorrow. If not tomorrow, maybe for the weekend.’

Enzo Fernandez, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Robert Sanchez remain sidelined as they continue rehabilitation work but Pochettino is delighted the lengthy list is now down to four.

He added: 'It is good news the players are recovering and positive for next season, having nearly all the players fit to start training in pre-season.’

Chelsea head to Brighton tomorrow night level on points with sixth-place Newcastle United, with the Magpies currently enjoying a superior goal difference of ten.

Manchester United are three points and 16 goals behind the Blues. With the Reds and Newcastle playing each other tomorrow night, there is a chance Pochettino’s men could move up to sixth if we secure victory and the Magpies fail to do the same.

Newcastle then travel to Brentford on Sunday, with Manchester United also on the road at Brighton, whilst our season comes to a close at home to Bournemouth.

Pochettino said: ‘It is important to keep a strong mentality and really believe that we can get [European football].

‘It is going to be two really tough games because Brighton are a really tough team and will be tough to play against, and then Bournemouth at home.

‘But the most important thing is to believe and I think the team is doing really well. In the last 26 games we have been doing really well and we need to keep doing it in this way, trying to always keep doing our best, keep improving and doing our best.

‘It is going to be tough but I really believe we can compete in the next two games, and having the possibility of playing in Europe would be amazing for us.’

Standing in their way tomorrow night is a Brighton team who are in their second season under the leadership of Roberto De Zerbi.

The Seagulls are tenth in the table and have been victorious in 16 of their 33 Premier League home games under Roberto De Zerbi – victory tomorrow would mean the Italian has won more Brighton matches at the Amex Stadium in the competition than any other manager.

Pochettino said: ‘I really enjoy meeting him every time we have played. I really like the way he approaches the game and Brighton are doing fantastic.

‘You can see over the last few seasons with the way they have played and are achieving things that he is a fantastic coach.’

He continued: ‘Brighton have the potential to do fantastic things and it will be nice to see him because we have a very good relationship.’