The Blues know that victory at Stamford Bridge will seal a place in the last four of the competition – and provide a genuine opportunity to claim silverware in Pochettino's first season at the helm.

‘Tomorrow we need to be ready to fight because it can give us the possibility to be closer to a trophy,' said the Chelsea head coach this afternoon at his pre-match press conference.

'That’s why we need to fight, we need to be aggressive. We have to follow the last game in the way that we behaved and approached the game. Improving the way we play but keeping the same mentality and the same capacity to fight for every single ball.'

Those who started our victory over Sheffield United on Saturday began their day in the gym, with stretching the main focus of the workout. Nicolas Jackson was among that contingent after scoring his seventh Premier League goal of the campaign.

'It was nice to be on the scoresheet,' the Senegal international explained after our 2-0 win over the Blades at Stamford Bridge. 'There have been hard times and some criticism, but that is how life is.

‘Now I have scored I hope to continue to help us win more games and win for the fans.’

The indefatigable Conor Gallagher completed another 90 minutes at the weekend – and he did so as captain once more. The Academy graduate's influence was something Pochettino highlighted after the victory.

'You can see on the pitch: he runs, he plays, he fights, he gives everything to try to win. He is a really important player, a type of player every coaching staff wants to have in the team.’

Out on the grass, there was the welcome sight of Ben Chilwell. The England international has been ruled out since the end of September due to a hamstring injury sustained in our Carabao Cup victory over Brighton and Hove Albion.

Chilwell is still in the rehabilitation stage of his recovery but was outside undertaking individual work as he continues his road to recovery.

One player who has undertaken – and now completed – that journey in recent months is Christopher Nkunku. The France international joined the Blues in the summer from RB Leipzig and impressed during out pre-season tour of the USA.

However, Nkunku suffered a knee injury in our final friendly against Borussia Dortmund and was sidelined for several months.

The 26-year-old made his return to the matchday squad against Sheffield United and Pochettino has suggested the France international is ready to make his Chelsea debut tomorrow evening.

‘The reality for me was that he was a player to be involved in the squad but at 2-0, I didn’t want to take a risk with him,' Pochettino explained.

'Today he was much better than the day before we played against Sheffield United, so it increases the possibility he will involved. How I saw him today [in training], I can tell you maybe he can play 20 minutes.'