The new format in Premier League 2 will see the champions crowned in the play-offs, with the current generation of Chelsea Under-21s aiming to win the trophy we last lifted in 2020.

It is so far, so good after a fourth-place finish in the league stage was followed by an incredible 5-4 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the last 16, with Zain Silcott-Duberry hitting a stunning winner in the 27th minute of extra time after injuries reduced us to 10 men.

Head coach Mark Robinson knows things aren’t going to get any easier from here, though. The Blues have one of the youngest sides in the competition and next travel away to Arsenal for a 1pm kick-off on Saturday 11 May. The Gunners underlined their strength with a 6-2 win over Manchester United in the first round of these play-offs, having only finished below us in the league table on goal difference.

‘It’s going to be a very tough game,’ said Robinson. ‘I don’t want to keep going on about ages, but we are what we are. We know we are younger than most of the other teams, including Brighton and Arsenal, and that can bring physical challenges.

‘But hopefully the boys will have learned a lot from last Friday night against Brighton. We’ve got even more injuries now but we need to regroup, put out as strong a side as we can and go out and relish the challenge.’

It is a challenge Robinson believes the players are up to, especially after seeing them overcome so many in last week’s victory over Brighton.

Despite several setbacks – as Jimi Tauriainen, Leo Castledine and Michael Golding were all forced off with injuries and our lead was cancelled out by an equaliser on three occasions – we responded each time and fought to the end of a gruelling 120 minutes to seal victory late on.

‘I told them after the win over Brighton to show that kind of response was a real step forward, that they kept going until the end despite everything. They had to go through three different formation changes, going down to 10 men twice, and on the whole they coped really well.

‘It’s been a good season on the whole, but there have been disappointments when the Under-18s and the Under-21s have gone out of cup competitions.

‘So certainly, after what some of them have experienced earlier this season, it was really pleasing to see them overcome those challenges.’

The physically and mentally exhausting nature of the victory over Brighton adds further complications ahead of the trip to Arsenal, as does the fact our men’s and Under-18s sides also play on Saturday.

As with the other challenges, though, it is something Robinson and his team are used to working around, while finding the balance between recovery, player development and match preparation, and this week has been no different.

‘We didn’t know exactly what this week would bring going into it. There are a lot of injuries, there was an important game for the Under-18s on Tuesday, they play again on Saturday and then next Tuesday in a final.

‘There are still some of the lads involved with the first team as well, which is definitely a positive thing, but it does add another challenge,’ Robinson explained.

‘We’ve had to think carefully about what this game looks like in terms of preparation, because you need to get in a certain amount of work on the training pitch, but you also need to get the recovery right, especially after a game like that against Brighton.

‘So that’s what we’ve been doing. We just had to come together and solve it to try to be as competitive as we can across the Under-21s and Under-18s. Now we have to get the results we need.’