Following the 3-1 win over Celtic in our Under-21s’ last match before the Christmas break, another victory against Valencia at Kingsmeadow tomorrow would guarantee we finish in the top three of our eight-team Premier League International Cup group, and could even finish first if other results go our way.

With the top two guaranteed to progress to the knockout rounds, in addition to two of the three third-placed sides, the Blues remain very much in the hunt going into this final game, although anything other than a win would leave our chances in real jeopardy.

The match kicks off at 7pm UK time and you can watch it live on the Official Chelsea App, complete with enhanced stats and event tracking from MVX, built with Infinite Athlete.

Head coach Mark Robinson believes the knowledge that only a win will do if we are to continue our participation in the competition, and the emotions and pressure that kind of decisive match brings with it, will be a vital learning experience for his young players, whatever the outcome.

‘Rather than bother the players with all the different permutations, we were telling the boys that if we win the game it puts us in a really good position to qualify. So we’ve kept it quite straightforward.

‘We’re all really looking forward to the game. I think it’s excellent when you get games like this where there’s only one outcome you need, it’s really good.

‘You look at the games we have coming up, like Colchester in the Premier League Cup where we’ve already qualified, and your approach to that game might be a little bit different, you might throw a different challenge at the players.

‘To have this type of challenge where it’s a must-win is certainly a really important part of their development.’

It is not just the players who are facing a different challenge for this match. With the men's team having a pair of cup ties this week, the second of which is also tomorrow evening, plus the Under-18s returning from their winter break at the weekend, Robinson admits there has been uncertainty over the makeup of his squad.

‘Since the players have been back, the numbers have really been changing because we’ve got a lot of lads with the first team, which is fantastic,’ he explained. 'Our preparation time was limited because I wasn't sure exactly who was going to be available until quite late, with the FA Cup and Carabao Cup games, and the Under-18s playing on Saturday.

‘So it’s a challenge, as coaches we needed to be flexible. Once we knew who we had, we needed to get the message across as quickly as possible so we can put in as fluent and as effective a performance as possible.’

However, that is not the biggest challenge posed by our match against Valencia, and this competition in general, according to Robinson. Like most of our opponents in the International Cup, the Spanish side play their league football in their country’s senior pyramid, making them a different proposition to the English youth sides we face regularly.

‘It’s a competition where we’ve had mixed results. Because a lot of the teams we face play "B" team football there’s certain experiences they have that we don’t and we’ve come unstuck a couple of times against the teams which play men’s football.

‘That makes the challenge all the better really. Their chances of qualifying are small but we’ve got to make sure the lads don’t look at that as a positive, because more often than not when teams have got nothing to lose they can come out and play with a real freedom.

‘Fundamentally we're still Chelsea and when anyone plays Chelsea it’s a real feather in their cap to beat us. Valencia's chances of qualifying are very limited, but it’s irrelevant. We’ll be playing a high-quality side and we need to be as ready as we can for it.’

All of that underlines why the Premier League International Cup has been such a valuable learning experience for our Under-21s so far - providing the kind of scenarios and opponents which can be rare in youth football - and why Robinson is eager for his players to progress in order to have more of these unique matches this season.

‘We’ve really enjoyed the competition and the different types of opposition, so we want to expose the boys to more of it. So 100 per cent that’s a massive incentive as well.’

Where to watch the live stream

The match will be available to watch on the Official Chelsea App, complete with enhanced stats and event tracking from MVX, built by Infinite Athlete. The stream is available globally and is priced at £1.99.