Chelsea star Romeo Lavia sends team-mates clear message over Champions League ambitions

Romeo Lavia insists he is finally winning his fitness battle in time to help in their qualification fight. Lavia, 21, has been plagued by injuries since and, incredibly, has yet to complete a full 90 minutes for the Blues.

The midfielder has suffered from a host of issues, with ankle, thigh and long term hamstring problems holding back his progress. But Lavia has been excellent on his return to action and his timing is good news for Chelsea as they bid to nail down a place in the top five to secure Champions League football next season.

Lavia said: “My goal the whole season was to be with the team and help them as much as I can. So I’m happy to be able to do it. I feel good, I feel good. So I just take it game by game and I’m enjoying every moment, so, yeah, so positive at the moment.”

Chelsea boss has described his team as having “five cup finals” left in their run-in, with three matches and potentially two more in the Conference League to complete. They have arguably the hardest run, with top five rivals and away to come.

Lavia’s injury woes mean he is not in the Chelsea Conference League squad as the Blues look to finish the job against Djurgarden in the semi-finals on Thursday night, having . But he had this message for his team-mates ahead of the Stamford Bridge clash.

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“We know every game is important, so finals, finals is a big word,” said Lavia. “But I just think we have to focus on each game and stick to our plans and everything will go well.

“We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, so we just focus game by game. We’ve got a big one on Thursday, so we’ve just got to get ready and create that momentum.”

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Maresca is also positive about the run-in. “My feeling is that - and I have had this already for a long time from when you work with the players everyday - they are all on the same page and heading in the same direction, in terms of how we want to play but also in terms of creating the right culture,” he said post-match. “It is so important.’

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