Enzo Maresca says Chelsea’s players received his message loud and clear after the Italian was so alarmed by the poor standard in training last week that he cancelled their day off.
Ahead of Thursday's showdown at home to Tottenham, an in-house friendly was arranged between the first-team stars who had not travelled away on international duty and a side made up of Under 21s from the academy.
The youngsters won 3-0 — with 19-year-old striker Donnell McNeilly scoring twice — and Maresca responded by hauling the first team back into Cobham the next morning.