The Blues entered yesterday’s game at Stamford Bridge after back-to-back top-flight wins that had seen Bournemouth and then Everton convincingly beaten. We had also not tasted defeat on home soil this season.

As Xabi Alonso accepted after the game, we were not at our best across the 90 minutes. Yet we did create chances. Cole Palmer, Jordan Henderson, Morgan Rogers and Pedro Neto all tested Antonin Kinsky in the opening period.

Yet in a tight second half, Tottenham broke the deadlock by forcing an own goal from Mike Penders following a corner. Mathys Tel then netted late on to seal the win, with the Blues down to ten men after Cole Palmer was sent off.

Caicedo, who wore the captain’s armband, was naturally disappointed with the result and accepted the Blues must learn from the painful defeat.

He said: ‘We need to be focused during the whole game because if you switch off for one second, you get punished.

‘We need to learn from this because we need to stop this from happening and we need to maintain the clean sheet for the whole game.

‘It was a tough one, but we need to keep going because there are more games in front of us and we want to do better.’

The Ecuadorian midfielder added: ‘Everybody knows what we need to improve. We are going to think about this game because we need to be up there in the table. We need to learn from this and for sure we are going to be up there [at the end of the season].’

For Caicedo, the game saw his third start in succession after overcoming an early-season injury. The 24-year-old was impressive in the middle of the pitch, winning a game-high four interceptions and making two tackles.

‘I tried to do my best and help the team and for sure I’m feeling better game by game,’ he explained.

‘This one was a tough game but I want to keep doing well and improving what I need to improve because I want to be someone that helps the team in every moment.’