It was a difficult afternoon when the Blues travelled to Newcastle for the Premier League’s early kick-off on Saturday, but we showed character to recover from the disappointment of going two goals down in the first half to secure a hard-fought point.

The home side’s intensity and physicality initially made things tough for us, but after the break Reece James fired us back into the contest with a pinpoint free-kick, which bounced in off the base of the left-hand post, before Joao Pedro raced clear following Robert Sanchez’s long kick to restore parity.

James drew plenty of admiration again after the latest in a string of impressive recent games for the Blues, with our head coach joining in the praise for the versatile Chelsea captain.

‘Once again he put in a top performance,’ said Maresca, reflecting on his skipper’s showing at St James’ Park after the final whistle.

‘He played for one hour as a midfielder and then the last half-an-hour as a full-back in his position. He is doing a fantastic job, not only for the goal, in general, so we are happy for him.’

Maresca was also asked if there were any fiery or passionate words during the half-time break which inspired the team to turn the game around right from the start of the second half.

However, he insisted that wasn’t the case, with him and the players remaining calm as they prepared their fightback to earn a point.

‘Even if we were 2-0 down and the performance was not good, from the bench I could see that the plan we prepared was the right one,’ explained the Italian.

‘So the message at half-time was just to continue to trust what we were doing, it is a matter of scoring the first one, and if we are able to do that we have a chance to win the game.

‘That was my message to them. There were no angry words today.’

The Italian also conceded that there are lessons to be learned by himself and the Chelsea squad from that tough first half in Newcastle, but didn’t want that to overshadow what he felt was a positive week, with four Premier League points earned alongside victory over Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

‘Last week we won against Everton, during the week we achieved a semi-final, a draw away at Newcastle is an important result.

‘But it’s always a chance to learn. Today there are many things we can learn from the first half, but also I am happy with the reaction of the players.’