We went into the second leg of our Conference League qualifying tie against Servette with a two-goal lead established in the first meeting at Stamford Bridge last week, and extended that advantage early on in Geneva when Christopher Nkunku scored from the penalty spot.

Things got difficult from there, though, as Servette pulled one back before half-time and set up a nervy finish with a second-half goal to narrow our aggregate advantage to one.

Our head coach felt our performance over the two legs had earned our progression in Europe, although we could have killed the tie off earlier in Switzerland.

'In the first half-an-hour we scored the goal and had three or four more chances,' said Maresca after the match. 'If we had been able to score again it would have been finished because we won 2-0 in the first leg.

'Then we conceded the goal and after that it’s normal to suffer a little bit. I was very worried about this game because these are tricky games. For them it could be their game of the season against us. The pitch was not great, the temperature was 30 degrees. I was very worried about the condition of the game.

'But in the end we started very well. On and off the ball the team was very aggressive, we created four or five chances one-on-one with the keeper in the first half and if we were able to score again the game would have been finished. But that is football. They scored, it was a boost for them, but in the end I think we deserved to go through.

'This kind of game, at the end you have many things to lose and not many things to win. That is why I was so worried before the game but the way we started, the way we played in the first half-an-hour was unbelievable. On the ball we were very good. Then we conceded a goal and it became a bit more difficult.'

With our place in tomorrow's draw for the new league phase of the Conference League now secured, Maresca is looking forward to a busy season and trying to challenge across four different competitions and believes commitment against Servette showed the Blues are taking this tournament seriously.

'It’s another competition and we’re going to try to do our best. I think tonight once again, the way we started, the team showed the team was there. But in the game we conceded, they had some chances and we lost a little bit of confidence.

'But overall, even in the second half, I remember three times we were one-on-one with the keeper. So if we were able to take the chances, especially in the first half, and scored the second goal, the game would have been finished.

'This is one more competition. We have the Conference League, Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, and in all competitions we are going to try to do our best and then we will see where we are at.'