The Blues head into tomorrow evening's game at Stamford Bridge knowing just 90 minutes of football separates them from a Wembley final next month. However, that can not be the focus.

Overhauling a first-leg deficit is the priority against Middlesbrough, as Pochettino stressed in his pre-match press conference this afternoon.

'It’s a really important game for us and we need to show it’s important for the club, for us, for everyone,' the Chelsea head coach said.

'We want to be in the final but first we need to beat a very good team, Middlesbrough, that in the first leg we couldn’t beat.'

Today's work began in the gym for the squad – and Italian midfielder Cesare Casadei was involved in the session after he was recalled from his loan spell at Leicester City.

‘It didn’t surprise us [Casadei's performances at Leicester] because in pre-season with us he was really good,' said Pochettino. 'He was one of the players that we suffered a little bit by allowing him to go.

'Tomorrow, it isn’t possible [for him to play] because he played in the Carabao Cup with Leicester, and for Friday [against Aston Villa in the FA Cup] he isn’t available too. In the Premier League, maybe he can be involved and part of the squad.’

It was out onto the grass for the players after their gym work, and there was the welcome sight of Trevoh Chalobah involved as he continued to build his fitness after returning from a hamstring injury.

The Blues have performed well at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks; it is eight matches without defeat on home soil in all competitions.

That record will give Pochettino and his players confidence heading into tomorrow night's fixture, as will the big-match atmosphere the Chelsea head coach anticipates will be created by supporters.

'Of course, it will be tough, but we are confident that we can have a very good game against Middlesbrough in front of our supporters. We need to take advantage of playing at Stamford Bridge with all the energy that will translate from our fans.’