The Eagles’ skipper Marc Guehi, a Chelsea Academy product, was sold to Manchester City, while their head coach Oliver Glasner announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season. There has also been speculation striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has asked for a move away.

It could be argued, therefore, that this is a good time to come up against Palace. Rosenior does not believe that to be case, however, as he explained at his media conference at Cobham this afternoon.

‘What I know is they're an outstanding team,’ said the Chelsea head coach.

‘Selhurst Park is, for me, one of the most difficult places to go. Look in the Premier League, you have to be ready for a physical battle. The atmosphere in the stadium's going to be red hot, so we're not taking a game lightly at all.

‘I was fortunate enough to play against Crystal Palace early in the season. I know what a good team they are, and we're going to have to be very, very good to win again.’

Following the Palace game, we play four of the bottom five teams in the Premier League as it stands: West Ham, Wolves, Leeds and Burnley.

Rosenior was asked if these run of fixtures could provide the perfect platform to build some momentum and go on a winning streak.

‘I don't look at it that way,’ he replied. ‘I've said to the players, you focus on the next game. It's very simple.

‘I'm focused on Crystal Palace. After that would be Napoli. If you start trying to create runs or looking ahead, you'll come unstuck. In this league, you see how difficult it is. So the focus is on Crystal Palace and putting on the best performance we can.’

The Blues will be seeking put an end to two months without an away win in the league, although in that time we have picked up creditable draws away to Newcastle and Manchester City.

Rosenior said he was not aware of that record, and he doesn’t think it is relevant to Sunday’s fixture.

‘It's something that I'm not paying attention to. I know that if this group of players perform in the manner that I expect them to, we have a great chance of winning any game against any team, and we just have to focus on that going into Crystal Palace.’