When Enzo Maresca called for a centre-back signing after Levi Colwill’s ACL injury, first privately and then publicly, Chelsea listened and looked into it. They ultimately decided there was no obvious upgrade; nobody better than the defensive options they already had.

Maresca has not brought it up since - no use in complaining with the window now closed - but the Blues’ leadership team led by co-owner Behdad Eghbali are sympathetic to the freak injuries and suspensions which have befallen the 45-year-old Italian amid his mini-slump.

That has particularly been the case in the defensive department at a time when the discontent from the fanbase, both in the stands and on social media, has grown louder.

As well as Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo is sidelined by a calf injury, while Wesley Fofana will not return until after the October International break because he was concussed when punched in the head by his own goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen during the Carabao Cup win in Lincoln.

Trevoh Chalobah is now suspended for this weekend’s visit of Liverpool after his costly straight red card in the 3-1 loss to Brighton, while Robert Sanchez was the culprit dismissed the week before in their 2-1 defeat away at Manchester United.

Chelsea have lost five times since April and in four of those fixtures, they were a man shy. Only Bayern Munich beat them with all 11 players on the pitch. Otherwise, it has largely come down to ill discipline, with the Blues showing they can be their own worst enemy and Maresca calling on his players to eradicate such errors.

So there are mitigating circumstances amid Chelsea’s rough patch, and the hierarchy’s faith in Maresca is not wavering. We are told that will not change any time soon, even if their impending clashes with Benfica and Liverpool do not go perfectly to plan.

The season is six weeks old. Nobody is panicking. Chelsea are backing Maresca to come through. He did so last season, remember. This side of youngsters struggled between December and February but wound up winning two trophies in the Conference League and Club World Cup while securing Champions League football.

Maresca was aggrieved by his doubters at the time and when Daily Mail Sport asked him at the end of the season for a message, he told his critics that they can 'eff off’.

Finishing in the top four is Chelsea’s priority again, as well as striving for silverware, and those targets remain realistically within reach. Blues' sources say they believe the squad they now have is better than the one they had last term and so, yes, there will be some pressure on Maresca to prove that they are making proper progress under him.

But it would take more than back-to-back losses in the Premier League with 10 men to suddenly strip his position of stability. Could his substitutions be more positive? Sure, but then Maresca is learning also, given he is still relevantly new to managing at the highest level, and in many cases, his hand has been forced by injury issues.

The word we are getting is that all within Chelsea are fully aligned, with Maresca himself believing he is only getting started, having signed a five-year contract with the option of a sixth.