Enzo Maresca believes his youthful Chelsea side are "going in the right direction" in his debut campaign in charge at Stamford Bridge - but now the Italian and his players must finish the job by ensuring a Champions League return next season, starting at Brighton on Friday Night Football.
Chelsea, who at 23 years and 309 days boast the youngest average starting XI in the Premier League this season, are probably ahead of schedule right now given at its outset, few were predicting a top-four finish this season - although fifth place may also be enough to secure Champions League qualification.
Heading to the south coast on Friday to take on a Brighton team who beat them 2-1 at the Amex in the FA Cup last Saturday, though, the Blues occupy fourth position, two points ahead of both champions Manchester City and Newcastle, with just 14 games left to play this season.
In fact, Chelsea have been in the Champions League berths for much of this campaign - 109 of the season's 182 days to date - but to stay there, they will need to start managing games better and closing them out after going ahead, especially on their travels, where they have not won since beating Tottenham 4-3 on December 8.
"We need to learn to win games 1-0," Maresca said in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports. "Big teams know how to win 1-0. Sometimes when you are winning 1-0 and there's 10-15 minutes to go, the way they manage the game and the ball, kills the game. It's something that we need to learn.
"The reason why I said we are not still a club that we can compete for the Premier League or an important title is because we need to learn different things.
"One of the things that we need to learn is how to win games, how to be ruthless and win the games, sometimes 1-0, to be nasty in some moments. It's something that we're going to learn for sure."
That task, though, has become a lot harder with the news that striker Nicolas Jackson, who has scored nine Premier League goals this season, has been sidelined for six to eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
But it is not just the Senegal international's goals the side will miss but also his monster pressing from the front, as the Chelsea boss explained.
"It's a big loss for different reasons," he said. "First of all, he's always a big threat to the opposition defensive line when we have the ball. Off the ball, he's very aggressive, the way he presses gives us a lot. But we need to find a different solution now."
Even more so given Jackson's backup, Marc Guiu, is also out with a hamstring issue, while another attacking option, Joao Felix, went to AC Milan on a six-month loan deal in the January transfer window.
One of those "solutions" up front is likely to be Christopher Nkunku, whose playing time so far in west London has been impacted by a knee injury picked up at the start of last season - his debut campaign.
But the France international, 27, has 13 goals and four assists to his name in all competitions this time around - not bad for a player his head coach does not believe is an out-and-out forward.
"Christopher could be a solution but he's not a proper No 9, he's not a striker, he's more of an attacking midfielder," said Maresca.
As well as working out a way to overcome Jackson's absence at the Amex, Maresca also needs to come up with a plan to get the better of a Fabian Hurzeler-managed Brighton team who always pose a unique set of tactical challenges.
That will not be easy, says Maresca. "Since they started, they are very aggressive on the ball. They want to try to keep the ball and play in the way they want to play.
"They have some very good players, like [Kaoru] Mitoma, [Carlos] Baleba and [Jan Paul] van Hecke.
"There have many good players and want to be aggressive in the way they are every game. Hopefully we can find the right solution."
Victory on the south coast, though, could open up a significant five-point lead over Champions League-chasing rivals Man City or Newcastle, should there be a result when they meet at the Etihad on Saturday, as we move into the final third of the season.
All of which makes this a vitally important Friday Night Football showdown for the visitors.
"From now on, we have 14 Premier League games and every time you are able to win a game, you can see the gap get a little bit bigger," said Maresca. "In case you don't win games, you draw or you lose, you can see the gap, not big, a small gap.
"It's important to be focused just on us and try to win as many games as possible."
Despite having already exited both domestic cup competitions, were the Blues to seal a Champions League return for the first time since 2022/23 and prove their tag as Conference League favourites - while in the process becoming the only team to have won every continental title - then surely this will have been a hugely impressive debut campaign for the Italian?
"We are very upset that we are out from both domestic cups," Maresca was quick to emphasise, however, following a backlash from some fans after he suggested it may have been a good thing to exit the FA Cup with defeat at Brighton on Saturday.
"This is the reason why I said the other day after FA Cup that probably the only positive thing is that now we can be focused on the Premier League and the Conference League.
"Also because at this moment we are not ready to compete for four titles. So if we can be focused now to finish in the best way in the Premier League and in the Conference, it's important."
Whatever happens come the end of the season, though, the Chelsea head coach believes the two-time Champions League winners are ahead of schedule when it comes to returning to Europe's premier club competition next season.
"The club asked to play Champions League in two years," he revealed of the target he was set by Chelsea's owners when signing his five-year deal last June. "If we are able to bring this club after one year, it will be fantastic."
Maresca feels that top-level continental experience will only prove beneficial in helping develop their young stars and realise his prediction in December that "in the next five to 10 years, Chelsea will be one of the teams, or the team, that is going to dominate English football."
"It's very important for sure [Champions League qualification]," he said. "First of all for the club, for the fans, because this club belongs to the Champions League. Then for a while, we didn't play Champions League, we didn't compete for important titles.
"The only thing I can say is that now we are in the right process, we are in the right direction. Chelsea has never been top four in the table in the last two years.
"This season, we spent almost all our season top four at least. So that shows that we are in the right direction. For sure it's not enough because we want to bring this club where this club belongs.
"As I said, that is Champions League. We're going to try to do our best and if we are able to do that, we're going to be very happy. Otherwise, we're going to try next year."
Watch Brighton vs Chelsea on Friday, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League from 7pm; kick-off 8pm. Stream with NOW.
