Enzo Maresca has admitted it was “not a good week” for Chelsea, with defeats by Bayern Munich and Manchester United a nightmare response to conceding an injury-time equaliser at Brentford.
Chelsea headed into the September international break sitting second in the Premier League with two victories and a draw from their opening three games, but have now not won since August.
Chelsea’s fourth away game in a row sees them travel to Lincoln on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup third round.
The Imps are third in League One and have been in fine form this season but Chelsea, even after Maresca has made the expected raft of changes to his team, are the overwhelming favourites to progress.
Maresca said of his side’s drop-off in results of late: “It’s been complicated. First of all because we always try to win games, knowing that Bayern Munich away or Manchester United away with 10 players after five minutes can be very difficult.
“The one that we can avoid 100 per cent is the goal we conceded against Brentford. At the end, we lost two points when, with two points more, I think at this point we would be second in the league.
“So, we need to avoid that and improve in that kind of moment. It's not a good week for us.”
The Italian was then asked whether facing lower-league opposition is the perfect next fixture as Chelsea seek to get back on track.
“Absolutely,” Maresca said about the need to do so. “But personally, I would prefer to play a Premier League game [rather] than a League One team.
“These are the games that worry me most, because sometimes you can underestimate. Football is full of these games.
“It’s something we need to avoid, try to do our job, and then focus on Saturday’s game against Brighton.”
