Following the departure of Enzo Maresca, Chelsea Under-21s head coach McFarlane and his staff have stepped in to lead the men’s team’s preparations and will be in the dugout at the Etihad Stadium later today when we face Man City.

Having been handed that task on New Year’s Day, McFarlane has had to get to grips with the role quickly, and explained how he has been making the most of the limited time available to work with the players at Cobham and in Manchester.

‘Once the sporting directors explained the situation and we figured out what I would like the staff team to look like, we made some calls and everyone came in at short notice on Thursday to get ready for what is a massive game on Sunday,’ he said.

‘We had a meeting on Friday morning with the sporting directors and the players, just to explain the situation and introduce the staff and explain how the next couple of days are looking.

‘We’ve had two days training together. With an away trip you get a lot of time with the players at the hotel to find other ways to get your information across, not just on the grass.

‘So we’ve had enough time to embed some ideas of what we want the game to look and feel like.’

Thankfully, due to the same footballing philosophy being shared across Chelsea Football Club, McFarlane is already familiar with the methods used by the men’s team from his timing coaching in our Academy.

That should help smooth the adjustment, especially given the limited time available, as he looks to add a few match-specific tweaks for our meeting with Man City, rather than making drastic changes to the Blues’ style of play.

‘We’ve had limited time and I think there’s been some really good work done previously, so it is just about introducing some of my own ideas and concepts about how I think we can be successful in winning the game,’ McFarlane continued.

‘But we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. There’s been some great work done previously, so we are just trying to continue that.

‘I don’t think I’d be working at Chelsea if I wasn’t aligned with what else is being done here. In the Under-21s, we try to play with the same ideas as the first team, to make the transition as easy as possible.

‘So without going into too much detail, my ideas are very similar to what the club believes is the right way to develop and win football matches.’