Prior to the draw with Arsenal, the Blues had kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league. The Gunners only breached our defence when we were down to ten men, and even then we were largely successful in restricting clear openings. We also shut freescoring Barcelona out last midweek.

Of course staying solid defensively requires a collective effort, but our centre-backs’ displays have arguably gone under the radar in recent weeks, if not by Maresca.

‘It’s something nice for me and the club and especially the team that our central defenders are doing very well at the moment,’ said Maresca.

‘Wes [Fofana] is doing well, Trev [Chalobah] is doing well, Josh [Acheampong] is doing well. Benoit [Badiashile] against Burnley and before the injury was doing very good.’

After starting against both Barcelona and Arsenal, Maresca says there is a chance Fofana will be rested for tonight’s game as his return to full fitness continues to be carefully managed.

Whether that opens up the possibility of Josh Acheampong featuring for the first time in the league since October remains to be seen. Either way, Maresca is in no doubt the 19-year-old’s next opportunity to impress will not be far away.

‘Josh is doing very good, the only reason why he isn’t playing isn’t for any other reason than because we have other central defenders doing very well at the moment.

‘It’s just a matter of trying to find the right moment to give him the chance to play, and when he does, he is going to play well.’