The Blues made a flying start to the game as we raced into an early lead through Morgan Rogers’ second goal of the season, but eventually the Premier League champions made their home advantage tell, scoring either side of half-time to inflict our first defeat under Xabi Alonso.

We came close to salvaging a draw at the Emirates Stadium, with Pedro Neto hitting the post and Estevao Willian being denied by a fingertip save late on, but eventually travelled back across London without a point to show for our efforts.

‘We are a little bit unhappy, of course, after losing, but I believe that we did well to be honest,’ said Lacroix.

‘We just have to adjust some points. I think it’s not easy to play there but we did good.

‘We accept the loss but we want to learn from it. I think it’s good to learn about the mistakes and all the wrong parts. We have to go forward and go again.’

Our French defender was doubly disappointed as he felt our performance deserved more than we got, after showing that we were capable of taking the game to the title holders on their own turf.

‘I think it was a good start but once they scored it got more and more difficult. But we showed that we also had good actions and good attacks, so the defeat hurts a little bit. We gave our best.

‘I think we deserved more. Luck was not by our side, but we have to accept it. The desire to score, the attitude was clear. We showed good character until the very end. We deserved the 2-2, but we learned for next time.’

Lacroix and his fellow Blues don’t have to wait long for the chance to put that loss behind them, with a busy week ahead. That starts with a Carabao Cup third-round tie against Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, before we host Hull City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.