Chelsea v Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna's pre-match thoughts

The Blues, who look set for relegation with seven games to go, are aiming to complete an unlikely double against the West London outfit, at Stamford Bridge, on Sunday (2pm ko), having won the reverse fixture 2-0 at the end of 2024.

Chelsea have spent big to sign dozens of young players on long-terms contracts over recent transfer windows in an attempt to become one of the top teams in world football once more.

Enzo Maresca's men are currently fourth in the Premier League and have half a foot in the Europa Conference League semi-finals after Thursday night's first leg 3-0 win at Legia Warsaw.

"To beat that Chelsea team with the strength that they have, with how good they are - well-coached, fantastic individuals, incredibly built squad - took an incredible team effort and it's going to have to be the same on Sunday," said McKenna.

"They've built a really formidable squad, a really young, talented, athletic squad. I don't know how many changes they made for the game on Thursday evening (five), but I think it was a very different starting 11 to the one that faced Brentford last weekend.

"So we know we're going to face a pretty fresh and pretty close to full strength Chelsea, which is a great challenge and a big challenge for us to take on."

Chelsea looked to be title contenders around Christmas time, but have dropped off in the second half of the season.  

"It's a Premier League season. It's really hard to be at your best across 38 games. They've had injuries in that time as well," said McKenna.

"Certainly watching some of the recent games, as we have, they're still a very, very good side. They're certainly one of the best teams in the division and I think they're going to be one of the best teams in the division for years to come.

"With the squad that they've built, I think they're going to stay in the top echelons for a long time."

Last weekend's 2-1 home defeat to Wolves has left Ipswich staring down the barrel of relegation. With just seven games to go, the Blues are effectively 13 points from safety.

"Nothing's 100% decided and it's not impossible," said McKenna. "We know that if we win the game on Sunday and Wolves lose the game on Sunday (at home to Tottenham), then the perspective can look a little bit different.

"We left the stadium really sad last weekend, but, to be honest, we've had a good week at the training ground.

"We've had some good meetings about what the next few weeks need to look like. During the international break we teed up the last nine games and made some promises to ourselves, whichever way our results went.

"The first game back (2-1 win at Bournemouth) was excellent, the next one (Wolves loss) not so much. That changes the perspective a little bit.

"Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle are the next three games and, as much as they're really, really difficult games, you can't be anything other than excited for games like that. The players are really looking forward to it and everyone's motivation is really high."