Enzo Maresca has insisted that his players are prepared for the pressure as they face a huge clash against Nottingham Forest that will decide their Champions League fate.
The Blues currently sit in fifth place on 66 points – the same number as Newcastle in third and Aston Villa in fifth, with only goal difference separating the three sides.
Nottingham Forest lurk close behind on 65 points, knowing they require a win to leapfrog Chelsea into the top five to secure Champions League football.
A win for the visitors would guarantee a return to the top level of European football regardless of results elsewhere; However, a draw would require a helping hand from Manchester United, who would then need to avoid a loss to Villa.
The Chelsea manager said: “It shows how difficult the Premier League is, so many teams involved [in the top five race]. We are quite lucky. If we win, we do our job, we don’t need to pay attention to other results. If we are not winning, we have to pay attention. We have the privilege that it depends on us.
“You don’t need this game to feel pressure. It’s a club that you need to win games. We won many games this season but we probably need one more, the most important one.”
Nuno Espirito Santo – the Forest boss – has said his players are on fire as they can’t wait for the game to start.
The home team have guaranteed European football for next season no matter what for the first time in 31 years, and haven’t played in Europe’s top competition since 1980.
Morgan Gibbs-White will hope to be their star man on Sunday and give Thomas Tuchel the impression he needs to hand the midfielder his first minutes under him in an England shirt after being called up to the latest squad.
Nuno said: “Nothing changes. One thing we are enjoying is preparing for a big match, so why not enjoy it? Everyone is enjoying it here. Players are on fire to play the game so the message is to stick to the task. Recognise it is a tough team to play against and enjoy and play the game like we always do.”
Both Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu have been passed fit and are in contention to play the game as Nicolas Jackson remains suspended.
Reece James continues to have his minutes monitored with the Conference League final next Wednesday in mind, so participation will have to be split across the two.
Maresca said: “[Nkunku] is working with us in the last days, him and Marc Guiu, they can be available. He [James] is okay. He has his own programme. We said already that we try to protect him, so we are managing him.”
Forest will be without Taiwo Awoniyi after his abdominal injury that required he be put in a temporary coma last week, although he has since made significant improvement in health.
Murillo remains a doubt in defence following an ankle injury last week that has put him out of training ever since.