Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he and his coaching staff enjoyed the just-concluded international break because it afforded them the chance to discover many young talents within the Chelsea group.

During the break, a good number of senior Chelsea players were called up to represent their respective countries, which the coach says gave him the opportunity to work with some younger players.

Speaking during his Friday pre-match press conference, the Argentine explained: “We enjoyed [the international break] a lot because we discovered many young talents from the academy. We trained with 10, 11, sometimes 14 of the young kids that was very good.

“Today was the first day we are back, it’s why I’m late, after the international break we have more than half hour meetings and training, only today we have the full squad to prepare for the game.

“It was a shame because we had momentum but we didn’t take advantage of that. We need to build the momentum again.

“I think we are confident, I think the team is confident. We’re still fighting, still struggling with injuries as a team. We’re working hard to find solutions and we are in a positive way.”