Mauricio Pochettino has warned his Chelsea players that the only way they can win against Everton is by showing fight and a hunger to get maximum points by starting well when they travel to Goodison Park on Sunday.

Everton are in decent form after picking up consecutive wins against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle without conceding a goal.

The results come off the back of the 10-point deduction they were slammed with as punishment by the Premier League after they were  found to have violated the FA’s Financial Fair Play rules.

Pochettino knows what the desire to prove a point can do for a team’s mentality, as is the case with Sean Dyche’s men, and has now said that the only way Chelsea can deal them a huge blow at home is by starting Sunday’s game on the front foot, like they did against Brighton a week ago.

“It is difficult to recreate Everton’s situation and to feel the same as them,” he told the official Chelsea website.

“That is natural and spontaneous. For us only what I want is to have the fire inside us because we want to play for the club, for ourselves, and for our fans.

“That was so clear against Brighton, in how we started the game and how we fought with 10 men. That is the way we want to keep it.

“We need the desire and the fight, otherwise we are going to suffer. The players and the coaching staff share the responsibility for that. It is how we propose the strategies, and how if you are a Chelsea player, you have to have the fight. If not, you are going to struggle. We need to show we care and we are going be ready to fight.”

“Football is many things but you have to start with this,” Pochettino continued.

“We started too flatly against Newcastle and Manchester United. We are a young team, but come on. Improving your build-up or your positioning can be improved with time, but fighting and running is non-negotiable.”