Next up on the agenda for Hassan Sulaiman and his team is the return of the Under-18 Premier League, hosting West Bromwich Albion in our fist fixture in that competition since facing Tottenham Hotspur at the end of October.

Kick-off at Cobham against West Brom will be at midday on Saturday 16 October and you can watch the match live on the Official Chelsea App, complete with enhanced stats and event tracking from MVX, built with Infinite Athlete.

However, before turning his attention to that upcoming fixture, Sulaiman reflected on Friday’s 3-1 win at Leicester City, which got our FA Youth Cup campaign off to a winning start against top-flight opposition.

He was particularly pleased with the way we begun the game on the front foot, underlined when Donnell McNeilly fired us into the lead inside the first minute.

‘We started the game really well, it was the kind of start you dream of. We scored after about 38 seconds I think and from that point on we dominated the ball and had some really good passages of play,’ said Sulaiman. ‘We couldn’t quite finish the attacks but, in terms of ball domination, we did really well.

‘After 20 minutes, Leicester became a bit more savvy and started to press more aggressively and committed more fouls, which disrupted the flow of our game. There was a slight shift of momentum, but we recovered that momentum and went in with a one-goal lead at half-time.’

We couldn’t hold that lead after the break, but responded well when Leicester equalised early in the second half, with both of our second-half goals scored by players introduced from the bench as we went on to win 3-1.

‘It's something we had planned for,’ he continued. ‘Naturally in these cup games you’ve got to prepare for every eventuality. We asked ourselves a number of ‘what if?’ questions before the game, like how do we respond to conceding an equaliser.

‘Because we’d prepared for every eventuality, even when it went to 1-1 we still had the confidence that we could go on to win the game.

‘One of the big questions we asked was about the impact of substitutions and how they can change the game. We reflected on our 4-3 win over Tottenham in the Under-18 Premier League Cup and the impact of the treble substitution in that match.

‘It was similar in this game. We were drawing 1-1 and Michael Golding, the first sub, gets that second goal. Shumaira Mheuka is the second sub we make, then he gets our third goal. That just emphasises the impact of our substitutions.

‘We speak about our press, our counter-press and our five-second transitions. It’s part of our Academy principles, so you should see that reflected in every age group.

‘That was definitely part of how we wanted to set up. Winning the ball higher up will naturally give you an increased opportunity to create a goalscoring chance, especially when the opposition team are out of balance.

‘All three of our goals were from regains or counter-presses. The first goal was a counter-press by Kiano Dyer, the second was the reaction in transition by Golding and the third one Mheuka does exactly the same. Those are the things we typically try and encourage the boys to build upon. Those habits and behaviours are really important to us.’

That is clearly something Sulaiman wants to see his team continue into our next fixture, when we host West Brom at Cobham. However, he identified two key challenges we will face in that game.

The first is internal, as he and the rest of the Academy staff decide who remains with his squad and who plays with the older age group to aid their development, in a week when our Under-18s and Under-21s are both in action across league and cup competitions.

‘We want to maintain momentum, without a shadow of a doubt. The boys want to do well in the league. We all recognise we’re nine points off the top with three games in hand, so we want to win every game to bridge that gap.

‘West Brom will be just like any other game, we want to win and perform well. We always have the challenge of players moving between squads. Some players were involved for the Under-21s at Luton on Tuesday and on Sunday the Under-21s also play against Liverpool.

‘While we want to field a highly competitive team, which we definitely will, we have to balance that with encouraging and supporting development by allowing some players to play with the Under-21s. It's a good challenge to have because we can never lose sight of our programme, which is tailored towards developing professional footballers.’

The second is the inevitable target our teams have on their back at any level, that comes with playing for one of the biggest clubs and most prestigious academies in football. Which brings Sulaiman back to the importance of being prepared for anything.

‘The other challenge we have is that the league table isn’t always a fair reflection of what most teams look like,’ he added. ‘Whoever we play against, because we’re Chelsea, everyone will always field their strongest team. The team they play against us might not be the same team they use every week, so we need to be prepared for every eventuality.

‘So we’re preparing for West Brom to be strong physically, to be good out of possession and to have some good quality on the ball. Last season was a tough game against them. We have to prepare like we’re playing the best version of West Brom.’

Where to watch the live stream

The match will be available to watch on the Official Chelsea App, complete with enhanced stats and event tracking from MVX, built by Infinite Athlete. The stream is available globally and is priced at £1.99.