The Chelsea Under-21s are now a third of the way through a busy eight days which concludes this year’s action at that level before Christmas. This period sees us playing three big games in three different competitions.

That started away at Luton Town in the Premier League Cup on Tuesday evening, when we come out on top of a tough match at Kenilworth Road to win 2-1, scoring twice after the break following a difficult opening 45 minutes, and then seeing the game out professionally when the home side pulled one back late on.

Against a side featuring experienced senior players in front of their own fans, sealing a fourth victory in as many games in that competition’s group stage to officially book our place in the last 16, head coach Mark Robinson felt it was a valuable learning experience for our Under-21s.

‘It’s always great to play in a men’s stadium and Luton needed to get a win to have a chance of qualifying. They put a very experienced goalkeeper in and a centre-half with Premier League experience, so it was a good challenge for us. In terms of mentality it was great.

‘The fact there was a crowd there and they had to get a result was a really good challenge. We struggled with that a little bit in the early stages and they had a couple of really good chances. Then we started to get a bit of rhythm, but we never really threatened, which we had to address at half-time.

‘We were using a new shape and hadn’t had a lot of time to work on movement and rotation. So although we had good possession in the first half, we weren’t threatening their back line and were losing width, so we didn’t stretch them or open them up, to get in behind. Although it wasn’t perfect in the second half, we definitely carried more of a threat and played forward quicker.’

The winning goal was of the highest quality, struck into the top corner from long range by Tyrique George, and Robinson felt that was indicative of the teenager’s talent, although there is still work to do to produce those decisive moments more regularly.

‘I’m obviously really pleased that, as an Under-18, when Tyrique’s stepped up he’s done well with us. He’s got lots of quality and it’s about making him more consistently effective.

‘He’s got great ability but I believe he can affect the game even more. So when he gets those opportunities it’s about improving him in terms of the quality in possession, as it is for a lot of the players.’

Robinson was also delighted that he got the opportunity to give minutes to two of the younger members of his squad at Luton, especially at a time when the result still hung in the balance, as we held firm at the end to secure the victory.

‘I’m really pleased that we got Ollie Harrison on, as he’s only 16 and it’s great experience for him, and he found the first pass forward for Tyrique’s goal. It was really pleasing to get him involved, and Kaiden Wilson as well, another Under-18. Putting them on, when Luton had just got back to 2-1 and the crowd were at their noisiest, it was great experience for them at the end.

‘That’s where it’s important to get that mixture of winning and development. It would be very easy for me to not make those changes, and obviously you want to win the game, but to put Ollie on and give him that experience, in a moment where we need to see out the win, is great for him. And we did see it out, which was one of the more pleasing things, as we’ve given away too many points from leading positions this season.’

All of which will stand the Blues in good stead when we go into our next match, Sunday’s Premier League 2 fixture away at Liverpool, our last league game of the year.

A tight table means that a win would pull us level with Liverpool on points, and could move us up the standings significantly going into the Christmas break. Robinson knows that opportunity will provide plenty of motivation for his players, but for his part is just focusing on continuing a strong finish to 2023 across all competitions.

‘We know Liverpool’s going to be a difficult challenge but if we get a win we can jump five or six places, which would put us in a good position in the league. In the short time we’ve got left this year that’s our focus, to get more coherent performances and at the same time put us in a great place in all three competitions.

‘We just work on a day-to-day, game-by-game basis, looking for those more consistent performances and individual development. The players naturally will look at the table and have that motivation, our job is more about developing them individually and collectively, and getting better consistency in our performances. If we look after that then the results will take care of themselves.’