The Blues secured an important victory over Leicester City at Cobham on Saturday to extend our lead at the top of the Under-18 Premier League southern table to five points, meaning another home win over Norwich City in our next match would seal the title.

We had to work hard to secure the three points against the Foxes, though. We twice had our lead cancelled out by an equaliser, after Donnell McNeilly opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Shumaira Mheuka restored our advantage in the second half, before Ato Ampah's stunning strike sealed things.

After our previous fixture away at Fulham had followed a similar pattern, before ending in a 3-3 draw when the Cottagers levelled late on, head coach Hassan Sulaiman felt the players were able to see the game out better having learned from that experience.

‘We got the job done. We had to learn. We reflected on the previous game against Fulham, when we went 2-1 up and then we went 3-2 up,' explained Sulaiman.

‘We did a post-match review on the Fulham game and that was important in this game, when we faced something a little bit similar, in the fact that we went 2-1 up and then it was level at 2-2, then we retook a 3-2 lead.

‘The most important thing was how we managed the game at 3-2, because at Fulham of course we allowed them to get back into the game and make it 3-3, and we only took a point from the game.

‘In this game in particular, once we did go 3-2 up, we wanted to ensure that we weren’t naive in our play, were a bit more decisive with our actions - in possession and out of possession - and we managed the game better. I think we did that well in a couple of spells.

‘There were a few nervy moments, but ultimately that’s what this level is about. It’s all about helping the boys to cope with pressure, to cope with the demands of the game and the different challenges that these games pose.

‘So I thought that was definitely a positive for us to take away from this win.’

Specifically, Sulaiman felt that was all about taking the correct decisions on the pitch. With our Academy promoting a possession-based style of play throughout the ranks, one of the most important lessons to learn is balancing risk and reward.

That is all about knowing when to take a chance in possession and when to play safe and hold what you have, and it is that element of game management where the head coach believes Chelsea showed improvement to secure the win over Leicester in the second half.

‘They certainly showed they had taken what we spoke about onboard and put it into practice on the pitch, which is important, especially with the way we ask the boys to play. We play with very high risk, in terms of how we build from the back,' Sulaiman continued.

‘Sometimes you can be caught and sometimes you can’t, but what we do know is when you do evade the opposition’s press there are some real high rewards in terms of the quality of your attack.

‘When you’re winning 3-2, the question is do we still need to play the same way, or do we arguably take a different type of approach for the next five or 10 minutes? Or maybe do we see the game out and if so how do we do that?

‘So I thought that was important and we certainly made an improvement in that area on Saturday.’

Hopefully the Blues will be able to put that into practice again this Saturday, when we host Norwich City at Cobham, knowing another win will be enough to crown us as southern champions on the day and book our place in the national final against Manchester United.