The midfielder was part of the side which lined up against Aston Villa in our penultimate Premier League fixture of the year at the Bridge yesterday.

The Blues put in an impressive performance for an hour to dominate a visiting side which had recorded 10 consecutive victories across all competitions, taking the lead through Joao Pedro’s first-half goal from a Reece James corner.

However, we were unable to convert that into points, as Villa fought back and found the net twice in 20 minutes to leave Chelsea to reflect on a frustrating afternoon and disappointing 2-1 defeat.

‘It’s painful because we were controlling the game,’ admitted Caicedo. ‘The first half was so good and we started the second half well and could have won, even after the first goal they scored.

‘For sure we were frustrated because we were doing a great job, but when you do not concentrate for the whole game in the Premier League it’s going to happen.’

Caicedo and his fellow Blues won’t have to wait long for their chance to bounce back, though. We end the calendar year with another home game at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, when we host Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.

It is an opportunity the Ecuadorian is determined to take advantage of, by showing the team has learned from this tough result.

‘We need to keep learning from this because we were there, up, but in the Premier League you need to be consistent to stay up,’ he said.

‘So we need to keep learning. This is not just a loss, it’s a chance to learn, and for sure we’re going to come back even stronger.

‘It’s important for us, for the fans, to end the year in a good way. So we’re just going to learn from this and focus on the next game because we want to give everything.’

Caicedo and Chelsea will be hoping to put that lesson into practice on the pitch and make it a happy new year for the Blues when Bournemouth come to west London on Tuesday 30 December, with kick-off at the Bridge at 7.30pm.