Five from training: All eyes on Europe

The second of three consecutive home fixtures prior to the international break sees us take on the Belgian side, with kick-off at 8pm at the Bridge.

With the Blues in such good form and an almost entirely fit squad to choose from, it will not be easy for Enzo Maresca to select his starting XI. Christopher Nkunku, our hat-trick hero last midweek, will be one of those hoping to feature from the start having come off the bench on Saturday.

‘I think for each player and each position, you need to be competitive,’ Nkunku said in the wake of that Barrow win.

‘You need to work hard and show what you can do. We want to help the team in every game. We just want to play and have a great game every game.’

That is a sentiment shared by Pedro Neto, who opened his account for the Blues in the same Barrow game and will also be hoping to return to the starting XI.

Neto said: ‘With the amount of quality we have here, no one can sleep. As the head coach has said, everyone will not play every game, so we have to work hard and continue to do it every week, in every training session, and every game.

‘That is the mentality I hope will take us to the top.’

Cole Palmer, our four-goal hero from Saturday, has not been named in the Conference League squad, along with Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia, as his minutes are managed after such an intense year.

He was still involved in training as usual on a rainy morning in Cobham, however, and will be fresh for the visit of Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Another player who has started the season strongly is Levi Colwill. He has explained how Maresca has helped his game.

‘I’m really happy with my form so far this season and I put a lot of that down to the gaffer,’ said the Academy graduate.

‘He’s given me a lot of confidence and he’s put a lot of trust in me to play my football. He wants me to start attacks from the back and having that trust makes me feel a big part of how we want to play.

‘I want to thank him for giving the opportunities to play and for allowing me to play my football in the way I feel I’m good at. He’s always pushing me and I’m really enjoy working under him.’

It is now just two days until we get to see Maresca and his men at work again!