The Chelsea head coach and his squad are putting the finishing touches on their plans for tonight’s Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers, as we make the trip up to Molineux.

Unfortunately, we won’t go into the knockout fixture off the back of a winning run, as our stretch of four consecutive victories was ended by a last-gasp defeat to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

During that loss, we struggled to break down the visitors' deep defensive line, with the massed ranks of red and white shirts in and around the opposition penalty area giving us little space to carve out a chance at goal.

Ahead of our Carabao Cup encounter, Maresca confirmed that unlocking deep defences is an area the Blues are looking at closely to find solutions going forward.

‘When we have some difficulties, we like to analyse,’ Maresca explained. ‘In these days, we try to analyse all last season’s games against teams that sit back to see the results, to see the game, to see how we can do better, how we can improve, because we are always looking to improve.

‘Probably apart from Ipswich, where we dropped points, against the rest of the teams – Leicester, Wolves, West Ham, Everton, Brentford – we won both games or we won one and we drew the other one.

‘But for sure it’s something that we need to do better.’

There was the added complication against Sunderland of the Black Cats changing their shape from the system they had previously used in their Premier League campaign. That forced the Blues coaching staff to think on their feet and adjust their plan in the moments before kick-off.

The added challenge those moments provide should not be underestimated, according to Maresca, and he is urging his players to expect the unexpected.

‘The thing that we need to improve and that we need to learn – and it’s something that I am saying to the players every day – is that now teams, probably because of what we achieved last season, change things against us.

‘I watched all the Sunderland games in the Premier League before our game, they never played with a back five from the start. Never. So we prepared for the Sunderland game against a back four.

‘Before the game in the changing room, before the players go out for the warm-up, I need to tell the players: “Guys, all the Sunderland preparation, I put in the rubbish, in 10 minutes we need to change the plan”. That is why it is difficult.’

It is not the first time an opponent has taken an unexpected approach in an effort to stifle the Blues' attack, which is the most potent in the Premier League with a joint-highest 17 goals scored so far.

Some have fared better than others, as Maresca highlighted our 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest as another example where we needed to adapt our preparations quickly.

He said: ‘Four weeks ago, I was in London for the LMA awards and with me was Ange Postecoglou. We were speaking and I said: “Ange, I never see your teams play a back five, apart from the last 10 minutes of the Europa League final against Manchester United”.

‘He started to laugh and said: “Enzo, I hate to play a back five, but because it was the last 10 minutes and we needed to win the trophy, okay, I don’t care, we play a back five”. Then, when we played Nottingham Forest, he started with a back five!

'I prepared the game against a back four. So before the warm-up, before the players went out, the plan went in the rubbish.

‘This is difficult for the players. It’s not like when you play against a team where you know they always play a back five. It’s completely different. We prepare all week, or two or three days, to win the game at the weekend. We know how to win the game.

‘The problem is that when you face teams that have a back four, then arrive with a back five and six back, it’s more complicated.’