The hours before a match are the most crucial for a player’s game preparation, from the moment they wake up until the first whistle at the stadium, and so we caught up with our midfield maestro N’Golo Kante to get an insight into his matchday rituals…

Kante has been involved in some of the biggest games you can play in football, from Premier League-clinching encounters to the World Cup final itself, so there is arguably no better man in the Chelsea dressing room to give us an idea of what happens in the build-up to a big match.

I try to sleep early…

Having a good sleep is really important so I go to bed early, especially when we have a lunchtime kick-off because then you don’t have the chance to nap to get back any sleep you miss during the night. It doesn’t happen too much in the season but it makes sleep more important and also getting energy from dinner the night before.

Good meals are the best preparation…

I have a good meal for breakfast or the pre-match meal because that’s the best preparation to play the game. We have to eat well at dinner the night before because in the morning sometimes you are not that hungry and you have to force yourself to eat something.

I stay relaxed with a phone call or watching TV…

In the morning, there is nothing special that I do really. I can have a phone call, watch TV, read a book, it depends. I just try to relax and then we have the team meeting, which is when I start to concentrate on the game. Before that, I try to treat it like a normal day and not think too much.

We have to remember the tactical plan…

It involves a lot of concentration, to be conscious of what we’ve done in training and to repeat it in the game.

It’s crucial to have a good cohesion with the squad and to remember all the tactical aspects we need to repeat. Our concentration on game day is basically remembering what we’ve been working on.

The staff give us all the information to win…

We have our pre-match meeting to show everyone what we’ve done well in the past games and what will help us to do well during the game coming up.

We have to be alert about the opponent so the staff give us some information about them, what we have to be mindful about and what can help us to put them in difficulty.