The defeat at Newcastle on Sunday leaves us in fifth position with two league fixtures remaining, the first of which comes against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.

Despite the setback at St James’ - our first league loss in almost two months - Maresca was pleased with the way his side dealt with playing with ten men for so long. We took the game to Newcastle, and it is that mentality he wants to see in our remaining matches.

‘The second half against Newcastle, we played three defenders, three midfielders and three strikers, so we were brave,’ the head coach said at his media conference today.

‘The team has always been brave, but because of the other teams, sometimes you can show that, and sometimes you can’t. Overall, I think the team has been brave since the start. The spirit we showed in the second half, the togetherness and the effort of the players was fantastic, and it is something we will need 100 per cent in the next two games.’

The magnitude of our remaining fixtures is not lost on Maresca. He is confident his squad have what it takes to secure elite European football for next season and win the Conference League. Handling that expectation would constitute a successful campaign, he says.

‘I have enjoyed the pressure since day one, knowing there would be moments that we will be more happy and less happy. This is my job.

‘The pressure is for all of us. It’s for the club, because we said since day one we have the duty to bring this club where this club has to be. That is top four, top five, the Champions League. The players are aware, the coaching staff are aware, the club is aware. Hopefully, we can finish the season there.'

‘At the beginning of the season, if someone said to us that we need to win the last two games to reach the Champions League, we are probably happy,' added Maresca.

'Overall, this season, we had moments, for instance the first five or six months, where we were second and third, so that was even better. Now we are there and we will try to finish well.’