The Blues have spent the vast majority of 2024/25 inside the top five of the Premier League table, dropping out of those crucial Champions League qualification places on just two occasions since the end of October.

However, a close race in the upper reaches of the table means that even with just one game remaining, it is not guaranteed that we will still be in the top five at the only moment when it counts, at the end of the season.

Our Sunday-afternoon opponents Nottingham Forest are another of the five teams which are competing for the remaining three Champions League spots still up for grabs in England, and Maresca feels both sides have shown they are worthy of qualification, although admitted there will be regrets if we don't finish the job.

‘Forest have done a great job,’ said our head coach. ‘I think if we are where we are, we both deserve it, but from my point of view we spent all of our season in the top four or five, so we’ve shown we deserve it, but now we have one more game to play.

‘I feel frustrated because if you see the data we are the first or second club creating the most chances, also the chances we miss, and at this moment we are the third best defence in the league. The only frustration is because I think overall we did enough to finish in the top four or five and the numbers are there, but we still have the race to finish in the top four or top five.

‘I feel frustrated because I think we did enough and we deserve it, offensively and defensively, to qualify for the Champions League, but now we are where we are and we are going to try to finish in the right way.’

Maresca has made sure his players are fully aware of the magnitude of the game and the atmosphere we are likely to walk into at the City Ground on Sunday. While matches like this may be a rare experience for some of the younger members of the squad, he has no concerns over their ability to handle the situation.

Furthermore, although he and his players will be doing everything they can to end the season with a combination of Champions League qualification and victory in next week’s UEFA Conference League final, he is pleased with the progress the team has made over the season as a whole, whatever happens in the coming days.

‘Probably for some of them it is the biggest game they’ve played but we have also some young players who have played in important games. They are all aware how important the game is so we don’t need to give them extra motivation. They are aware the game is important.

‘It is the last one, probably the most important game of the season. Some of them are going to be more relaxed, some of them are going to be more nervous, but at the end of the day it is a normal situation.

‘For sure if we are able to finish in the right way in both competitions by getting the Champions League and winning the Conference League, it’s something good for the club, for us coaching staff, for everyone.

‘If we don’t get the Champions League it’s a disappointment for us but nothing changes because this season 100 per cent showed that we are going in the right direction, and if we don’t get it we will try even harder next season.

‘But hopefully we get the Champions League and for sure if everything finishes well we are all happy.’