Bournemouth saw a goal ruled out early on for offside and created the clearer chances in the first half, having ten shots at goal compared to our three.

The Blues enjoyed more of the possession during the 90 minutes but often saw our attacks break down in the final third, particularly during the first half with our first shot on target not arriving until early into the second half.

Alejandro Garnacho hit the post with a header soon after the restart, as the Blues had four chances in quick succession, but on the whole we struggled to produce the quality in the final third to break down the Bournemouth defence.

And Maresca acknowledged: ‘I think it was a game where we lacked and we missed a little bit of quality in the last third. For me, there were many mistakes. We missed some passes in the last third, some moments that we could shoot and didn’t.

‘But overall, when you are not able to win, we have said many times, that it's important that we don't lose.’

He added: ‘I think it is because of a lack of quality in the last third for me, personally, in terms of last pass, some crosses, some moments.

‘We know that we are not going to score every game. I didn't know, to be honest, that [Chelsea had scored in every game] since Crystal Palace. Now we're going to try to score on Tuesday, but it's important at least to keep the clean sheet that gives us at least the chance to take points.’

While we may have missed out on three points on the coast, Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa means the gap at the top of the Premier League reduced to eight points this afternoon.

The Blues are currently in fourth place, five behind Villa and six below Manchester City in second. Everton are a point behind us in fifth and just six points separate Chelsea and Brentford down in 14th.

Our hopes of challenging at the top of the Premier League have been boosted this week by the return of Cole Palmer, who came on as a substitute at Leeds and then made his first start since mid-September today.

Maresca reference Palmer during his post-match press conference.

When asked if the lack of quality in the final third was because of individuals lacking confidence or not taking responsibility, Maresca replied: ‘No, no, no, not because of this. I think it's a normal mistake that can happen, you know, a last pass in the last third. It's just that.

‘I think Cole [Palmer] was quite good on that, he played half an hour the other day, played one hour today. So now it's important that he can build his physical condition.’