The Croatian has been a shining light in the Chelsea midfield since Tuchel arrived in late January, with our head coach selecting the former Real Madrid man on a regular basis across all competitions during our impressive 14 game unbeaten run under the German boss.

Kovacic admitted he was worried at one stage that the Blues may not force our way back into the race for the top four but is now confident that we are in a position to compete on all fronts between now and the end of the campaign under Tuchel.

‘The new manager has come in, with clear ideas of what he wants and the team responded very, very well to all that he asked of us in how he wants to play,’ said Kovacic recently in the Chelsea matchday programme.

‘I think we are doing very well, but the most important thing is to keep going, winning games, and to be as high as possible in the Premier League this year. Obviously, a team like Chelsea wants either to win or be in the top four, which is important.

‘In football, if you approach the games and train well, everything can change in one or two weeks, and that’s what happened. We were 10th and I was really a little bit worried as well because, to be in that position and to not reach the top four, would be a bad, bad season for us.

‘But now we have come back, and we need to have the same approach as we did before – train good, approach every game well and I hope it will end well for us this season.’