Graham Potter believes there are several reasons why Chelsea have created fewer chances in recent weeks compared to in his first few matches in the Blues dugout.
Tonight, Potter is looking to become the first Chelsea manager to go unbeaten in his opening four Champions League games since Roberto Di Matteo in April 2012.
The reverse fixture was our head coach’s first match in charge, and his forward-thinking philosophy and style of play has become more evident in his team as the weeks have passed.
The Blues have averaged 12.8 shots per game under Potter, attempting more than our opposition in six of his eight matches in charge.
That rate has dropped in the last few games, however, with clear chances at a premium. It is something the head coach puts down to a number of factors.
‘It's a simple question to ask but a complex one to answer,’ he said.
‘There are lots of things I would say. We've had a couple of issues in losing Reece [James], Koulibaly, and Wesley [Fofana] in terms of stability,’ Potter said.
‘Away matches off the back of away matches in the Champions League, tough places to go. So, it's a combination of finding the right balance, a bit of a process in terms of not much training time between the games: I think we've had seven matches in the last three weeks.
‘So when a lot of players are coming out for different reasons, we just need to find that stability and structure, but that is probably a bit more complex and has been a bit of the challenge as well.’
The Blues have progressed to the knockout stages in 17 of our previous 18 Champions League campaigns, failing only in 2012/13 as holders.
A win in Austria tonight would see us advance once again, and our head coach is expecting a similar tussle to when we hosted Matthias Jaissle’s side back in September.
‘Salzburg are a really good side, especially here, they are very strong. We saw their quality when they came to Stamford Bridge, so we expect a really tough match,' Potter said.
'We have to fight and match their motivation and intensity because that will be high. Then we have to play our football, but it's going to be an exciting game.
‘It would be nice to win, and there are consequences to winning, but our thoughts are just to try and win the match and perform as well as we can,’ he added.
‘We understand how tough it's going to be in the environment here. It's going to be a challenge, but we have to take that on. We've put ourselves in a good position, but we're not finished, we've not got enough points.
'We need to carry on, and that's the test and challenge for us and we're looking forward to it.’