The Blues hosted the newly crowned Premier League champions on Sunday afternoon, and rained on their parade with a 3-1 victory that keeps us in the Champions League qualification places.

We ended the day in fifth, and just one point behind Manchester City in third, as we head into the final three league fixtures. With every game vital until the end of the season in such a tight race for Europe, the potential significance of earning three points against the champions wasn’t lost on Palmer.

‘It felt like a big win. It was a good game, I enjoyed it,’ reflected our No.20 after the final whistle. ‘The manager had a great game plan and I think we all executed it well.

‘We know they are an amazing team so to win feels good. We needed to win for the Champions League and they’re a good team, so to win it was good.’

Palmer himself was in fine form, playing a big hand in all three Chelsea goals. It was his pass which released Pedro Neto down the right to tee up Enzo Fernandez for our early opener, and his weaving run into the penalty area which sparked the chaos which led to Jarell Quansah’s own goal.

Having then been denied what would have been a brilliant solo strike by the woodwork, Cole got his goal with the last kick of the game, converting a penalty in typically nerveless fashion after Moises Caicedo was brought down in the box in added time.

‘I felt good all game. I thought I was playing free, I was playing well before the goal. I felt confident and just thought about trying to score. We would have won anyway to be honest, but to seal it felt good.

‘I’m just happy to get the three points. If I score, and I help the team to get three points, then great.’

That late penalty was Palmer’s first goal since January as the 22-year-old ended a rare barren spell at an ideal time, ruling out any chance of a late equaliser for Liverpool. It was a moment to savour as his team-mates rushed to congratulate him while Cole celebrated in front of the jubilant supporters in the Matthew Harding Stand.

However, he insists goals haven't been playing on his mind too much, his focus remaining instead on helping the team achieve our targets throughout this period, knowing that difficult spells are inevitable in any player’s career.

‘I knew that patches like this were going to come, it was going to happen. It’s not really affected me, it’s just one of those things in life. It’s just about working hard every day and trying to overcome it.

‘Maybe it was on my mind at the start, but as it’s gone on I’ve realised that it’s just life. I’m not going to stay in a good patch for 18 months and never have a bad patch.

‘Obviously I’m young and just started my career. I knew it was going to come, it was just about working hard to get out of it. I’m going to continue to work hard and help the team as much as possible.’