The Blues return to action following the international break with the first of several big games coming up over the next few weeks. On Saturday, it is a trip to Leeds United in the Premier League Cup quarter-finals, with the match kicking off at 1pm.

In addition to the historic rivalry between the two clubs - something not lost on Under-21s head coach Mark Robinson - and the spot in the semis up for grabs for the winner, there is an added bit of spice to this game, given it is the fourth time this season that the two sides have met, and the third since the start of 2024.

Both of our away trips to Leeds have ended in a Chelsea victory, sandwiching a 3-3 draw at Kingsmeadow at the end of the Premier League Cup group stage, and Robinson is hoping to pick up another win this weekend.

'For me, whenever Chelsea play against Leeds it is always a massive game,' he said. ‘It's the third time this year we’ve played them and we need to make sure it’s not third time lucky for them.

‘We’ve got to make sure we get a positive result with the chance to make a semi-final. We’ve got to continue in all the competitions because it gives the boys extra games, extra development, extra chances to impress.

‘That’s why we’ve got to qualify in the top group in the league to make the play-offs and we’ve got to keep going in this competition, because it just means more games for those players and more opportunities.’

Despite the importance of this knockout tie, preparations for Robinson and his Under-21s squad have been limited over the last couple of weeks, due to the players' other commitments during the international break, presenting another challenge for the Blues.

‘We’ve had a lot of boys on international duty so there was very few left to work with, and some of those who did stay here got opportunities to train with the first team as well, because they were low on numbers over the break.

‘So the biggest thing to think about ahead of Leeds is that it’s been a big gap leading up to the game. We've only really had the boys together in training for a couple of days leading into the game.

‘That gave us an opportunity to work on individual development with the boys that were left behind, but we also needed to make sure that we’re sharp and ready to go when this game comes about, because it had been two-and-a-half weeks since we’d been together as a group.’

That short preparation time is now almost complete, before a vital stage of the season gets under way tomorrow, with this Premier League Cup quarter-final followed by our last three Premier League 2 fixtures of the campaign, where we hope to qualify for the title-deciding play-offs.