Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea can narrow the gap to rivals Arsenal with a win this weekend, but wants his team to take things one game at a time, as he spoke to the media ahead of Sunday's derby.
The Blues are looking to cap off a successful week after progressing to the next round of the UEFA Conference League, as they defeated FC Copenhagen by an aggregate score of 3-1 on Thursday.
Here is everything Maresca had to say in his press conference:
Preparations for Arsenal
Mikel Arteta's side have picked up just two points from their last three Premier League matches. Chelsea have turned a corner with back-to-back wins against Southampton and Leicester City, closing the gap with the Gunners to just six points.
A win for the Blues would reduce the gap to three, but this is easier said than done. Arsenal were 5-0 winners in this fixture last season, while Maresca fought to earn a point against Arteta back in November.
The Italian was wary of the challenge, reiterating the tight points race between the clubs at the top of the table:
"They can also be nine (points ahead)! We are not focused on if they can be three, or nine, or six. We are focused on how we can do our game and try to beat them, and then hopefully we can be more close.'
"For Arsenal our plan is to control the game, but they are also a team who will try to press high and be aggressive, so probably we will have more room to attack in behind."
Chelsea's goalkeeping dilemma also seems to have been settled, with Maresca revealing who will start between the sticks for Sunday's game - "It will be Robert (Sanchez).'
"Since we started, the idea was not to change goalkeepers, but sometimes you have to modify, you have to be flexible with your players.'
"I think Robert needs some days off to rest and restore mentally, but now he is back and we are not going to change. But again, we are happy with both keepers."
'All clubs affected by injury problems' - Maresca
Both Chelsea and Arsenal will be without their starting strikers for this match, and both have applied temporary solutions in an attempt to maintain their league standing - Pedro Neto and Mikel Merino filling in for their respective clubs.
This seems to have affected several top teams this season - Pep Guardiola went on an unprecedented losing streak after losing Ballon D'Or winner Rodri, while Ange Postecoglou has been forced into fielding weakened sides after losing several of his star players this season, plummeting Tottenham into mid table.
Injuries are a setback, but being able to find workarounds is crucial to stay competitive, as Maresca said: "All the clubs during this season have had moments of injury, so they need to adapt, they need to be flexible and try to find solutions."
Chelsea have also had their spell of injury issues - they led the league in goals scored at the beginning of the season and reached as high as second place, before letting their dominance slip.
Maresca suggests that this drop in form is a result of injuries to their attacking talent:"For some moments of the season we lost three players, the ones that score more goals.'
"Nico (Jackson) is injured, Noni Madueke is injured, and at this moment Cole who is struggling to score goals.'
"The ones that score more goals for us are unavailable, but the other players are doing well. We are trying to find solutions. Pedro Neto, since we started, is doing very well in that position."
Tricky few months for Blues?
The remaining few weeks of the season will be a real test for Chelsea.
They are expected to lift the Conference League trophy despite a largely unconvincing tie against FC Copenhagen, and have a tough run in the league - facing Liverpool, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest in their final group of matches.
The team will also have to prepare for back-to-back London derbies, meeting Tottenham at home after the international break - though Maresca's full focus will be on Sunday, as he said: "I try to judge game after game.'
"We lost some games where we didn't deseserve to lose. I still remember the Bournemouth game where we won but didn’t deserve to win, but also we have dropped points when we deserved points.'
"We have two targets - finish in the top 4 or 5 (for Champions League), and the other one is the Conference (League). If we are able to give the fans and the club again a chance to fight for titles, I think it’s important for us."