Twenty-five minutes into his Premier League debut against today’s opponents West Brom, an uncharacteristic error in possession from Thiago Silva gifted the ball to Albion’s Callum Robinson and the striker finished beyond Willy Caballero to give the Baggies a 2-0 lead.

It was far from the last of the drama on a chilly autumn Saturday evening at the Hawthorns as the Blues conceded again in the first half before rallying to complete a late comeback with a stoppage-time Tammy Abraham equaliser.

Six months on, Thiago Silva reflects on that baptism of fire with brutal honesty, admitting to a period of self-assessment in the aftermath of the draw and claiming that it inspired him to tweak his own game in order to adjust to the unique demands of life as a Premier League defender.

‘I made a mistake that you wouldn’t expect of me in theory,’ he said. ‘It was a technical error that resulted in the opposition’s second goal but from that day I started to study more closely the opposing forwards.

‘I looked at how they press defenders and what I could do differently to be faster, such as controlling the ball better, which allows you more choices. In France, I would have more time to act than I have here and I might have got that wrong in the beginning.’

Following those three first-half goals conceded in the Midlands, we put together a run of five consecutive clean sheets with Thiago Silva in the side and our remarkable rearguard efforts are once again in the spotlight as we prepare to welcome West Brom to SW6 for the return fixture.

It’s been over 10 hours since we conceded at the Bridge under Thomas Tuchel and we could record a club-record eighth successive shutout in all competitions with another against Sam Allardyce’s strugglers. For our number six, however, complacency is out of the question.

‘You have to perform at the highest possible level, especially when you’re in a big club like Chelsea,’ he continued. ‘This is a competition that requires everything from you in every game, every minute, every second.

‘You can be winning 2-0 with five minutes to go yet the game has not ended yet. There are things that could only happen in a Premier League match, which is why it is so exciting and one of the greatest leagues in the world.’

The 36-year-old has not played for two months after a recurring thigh problem and Tuchel revealed his defender had taken extra care to be 100 per cent fit before returning to action, which he could do in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off today.

‘I know what he’s doing to be fit,’ added the boss. ‘He takes a lot of care so he can play at this kind of level and it was great for him to take this step at the end of his career, when some players would try to take it a little bit more easy.

‘When he’s injured, he takes it very seriously so it takes sometimes a bit longer for him because he wants to come back when he feels absolutely safe. This is a part of his personality that I can respect and once he gives it a go like he has this week then you can be absolutely sure that it’s a green light so he’s ready for tomorrow.’