It is the first time in his Blues career Thiago Silva has endured a bump in the road. Seven wins and four draws in his opening 11 appearances since signing in the summer have been followed by a quickfire run of defeats, the most recent at home to Manchester City.

It was an emphatic setback and the experienced defender analysed what went wrong on Sunday, before turning his attention to objectives that can help bring an end to this sticky patch of form.

‘It was a match different from all the others we have lost recently,’ Thiago Silva said.

‘City have a good coach and have been playing together for four years. It’s not easy to play against them, but in a period in the first half we didn’t suffer enough to try and win the match. We conceded three goals in the blink of an eye.

‘It’s the most difficult league in the world. You need to be attentive, to work harder, be stronger as a team, but I think we are a good team and the second half was much better. That was the one positive.

‘We didn’t give up. We had more gusto and tried to play more. We saw that if we keep the ball well and play in the opposition half we can create space, but against a team with such a high level it’s very hard to come back.

‘We have to do much better, work harder. A team like Chelsea can’t go a long time without a victory.’

Thiago Silva also revealed what Frank Lampard said at the interval which helped bring about an improved second-half showing.

‘It was a positive message, to go back out there and try to play more. He gave confidence to the team after a complicated first half. I think we played a better second half and because of that we scored in the last minute. If we had done that earlier in the second half it would have been a different match.

‘The coach always keeps us positive. Of course it’s a difficult period for us because we are not winning, but it’s necessary to continue working and be prepared for the next match when it arrives.’