Chelsea fought back from a goal down to lead Brentford 2-1 on Saturday evening – Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo finding the net – before a last-gasp equaliser meant we made the short trip home across west London with just the one point.

Maresca said after the game he thought our second-half performance was much improved and arguably deserved all three points, and that followed a string of substitutions around half-time.

During the break itself Wesley Fofana, Jorrel Hato and debutant Facundo Buonanotte made way for Reece James, Marc Cucurella and Tyrique George, before Cole Palmer joined them off the bench 10 minutes later and Alejandro Garnacho came on for his Blues debut later in the game.

However, our head coach revealed those changes were all preplanned, as he manages several members of his squad depending on their individual situations – whether that is a recent injury, heavy workload or simply being a new arrival at the club.

‘We planned 45 minutes for Wes because he was a long time out. We planned not all the game for Jorrel, because I’ve said many times that when you’ve just arrived from another country you need time to adapt,’ explained Maresca.

‘Facundo joined us two weeks ago, physically also he is not 100 per cent. We needed to manage different situations, like Estevao [Willian] had to miss out. Joao Pedro also was not 100 per cent, but he did the effort to play part of the game.

‘Cole was not fit to play from the start. That’s from the medical staff, from the player. When we take a decision about an injured player it’s always from all of us. When Cole is fit we are all very happy. I have said many times that with Cole in the team we are a much better team.’

Maresca further dismissed the idea that his starting line-up was chosen with one eye on the upcoming UEFA Champions League trip to face Bayern Munich in midweek, insisting his focus was fully on the game against Brentford, while considering what is best for each individual player.

‘Joao Pedro before the game asked me that if he was not fit 100 per cent is it better he doesn’t play. So if I was thinking about Bayern Munich, Joao was on the bench, but Joao played because the focus was about Saturday.

‘But for sure when you have so many games you have to plan different options. For instance, Reece James played two games with his international team, so he played on Saturday and we were thinking about Wednesday.

‘So our focus was about Saturday, and the reason why is because if this season we play in the Champions League it is because we did well in the Premier League, and if we want to play in the Champions League again next season then we need to do well in the Premier League.’

The Italian also discussed the role of Joao Pedro in the Chelsea attack, particularly against opponents who defend deep.

The Brazilian has featured both as our centre-forward and in a No10 position supporting the striker in the early weeks of the season, and fulfilled both roles at Brentford during different periods of the game, as the shape evolved in the second half.

‘When we face a team who have a low block like on Saturday, having a proper No9 and Joao behind, in the way we played against West Ham with Joao and Liam [Delap], and how we started against Fulham with Joao and Liam, that is the perfect situation for Joao.’

Joao Pedro and his Blues team-mates now have three days to recover and get ready to go again, when our attention will switch to our opening Champions League fixture of the season, away at Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening.