We travel north to Elland Road in the Premier League today for a fixture which has big significance for both teams as we approach the end of the season looking for consistency. Mount and his Chelsea team-mates are trying to finish the job and secure a spot in the top four, while our opponents are equally eager for points at the other end of the table in the relegation fight.

Even without so much riding on the game for both teams, the 23-year-old knows Elland Road is a difficult place to go, having strong memories of the atmosphere from playing there in the Championship during his time on loan with Derby County, as last season's Premier League trip with Chelsea was played behind closed doors due to Covid.

‘It’s been tough at times, but we’re coming through it, looking forward and taking every game as it comes. We’ve got another massive midweek game,’ said Mount.

‘I remember playing away at Leeds in a Derby shirt and that was a very special atmosphere, one that sticks in my head. So I know the atmosphere, a few of the boys probably don’t know what’s coming as they haven’t played there before, so I’ll try to warn them about it.’

While he admits it is disappointing not to have our sights set higher on the title at this stage of the Premier League campaign, he also insists the whole team are fully focused on achieving our current goal of Champions League qualification, knowing the job isn’t done until a top-four spot is guaranteed.

‘If you look at the beginning of the season we were up there pushing and it came to around December, January time and we had a dip. If you’re going for the top and you want to be up there you can’t have that dip.

‘Eventually we fell off a bit and it’s disappointing because we feel we can be up there, we can do it, with the players we’ve got, the team we’ve got. So it’s difficult to take it when you know you can be up there, but then the focus is straight on to securing the top four and Champions League.

‘We’ve been doing that and we need to finish off the season very strongly because you never know in this league, anything can slip away from you with a couple of games left. So we need to be professional.’

Mount is in no doubt of the impact these last few games could have on the team as well as the wider club, too, with securing a top four finish making the difference between a summer looking back at regrets or spent looking forward to the excitement of another opportunity in the Champions League in 2022/23, and the added motivation that brings.

‘It’s massive,’ he added. ‘You look over the last couple years we’ve managed to secure the top four. Two years ago we got it with fourth position and the next year we won the Champions League, so you know how massive it is to look ahead to next season and what we can achieve as a team.

‘It’s a fresh start and you go again, so to kind of ruin everything that we’ve done this whole season with a couple of games left, it would be heartbreaking for us. So we know what we need to do now.

‘When you’re coming to the end of the season you know that you only have a few games left but in our case we’re focused. The season’s not done yet, we’ve got a final to play, we’ve got big games to secure the top four. So you can never slow down and that’s every day in training, we’re still at it and fighting every game.’