The Blues return to Premier League action this afternoon when we host Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge, the first of four remaining league fixtures in what looks set to be a nail-biting conclusion to our campaign.

With just four points separating seven teams – including Chelsea – in the table, there are several scenarios which could play out, depending on other teams’ results both in the Premier League and the conclusion of this season’s European competitions.

However, our interim head coach insists the team need to leave the maths to others, and just give our full attention to securing as many points as possible to help our chances.

‘I know people don't want to hear this because it's boring, but we just have to focus on the next game,’ said McFarlane.

‘That's beating Nottingham Forest on Monday, and then beating Liverpool at Anfield and trying to tick them off and win as many games as possible, finish as high up the league as we possibly can. That's all we can control.’

McFarlane also feels the tactical intelligence he has witnessed in the Chelsea players since joining the senior team’s coaching staff could prove important in that pursuit of European qualification.

He could be seen deep in discussion with some of the players on the Wembley touchline during our FA Cup semi-final win over Leeds United, and highlighted that understanding and willingness to contribute to solutions on the pitch as an area the squad has impressed him, both now and during his earlier spell in the dugout in January.

‘I thought the lads performed really well against Leeds at Wembley, which is a really tough opponent. They were in good form with a lot of threats, but I thought we nullified a lot of their threats.

‘The players are very coachable. They've obviously had a lot of success recently playing very heavy tactical positional play.

‘So they are very open to information and even though they have their own opinions and their own views on the game, they've been a pleasure to work with.

‘If there are any adjustments we need to make, they trust and they buy in. We've made a lot of tactical changes in my three games and they've bought into it. So they're very coachable.’

That intelligence on the pitch and tactical awareness could make all the difference when we take on Nottingham Forest later today.