Mauricio Pochettino might not want it but quite frankly nearly everyone else needs it. The international break is back. It interrupts a truly unpredictable flow of Premier League football for Chelsea but will mark the last time for four months that they have to worry about it.

Chelsea are now set to embark upon their longest run of consecutive fixtures since the season began and for a young group it brings with it both promise and fear. The Blues started this last month long period off the back of consecutive league wins and needed all of that form to go 2-0 up against Arsenal before losing the lead late on.

That result seemed to break the momentum as Brentford then put them to the sword and alarm bells were ringing at Stamford Bridge again. What followed might be the turning point for Pochettino, for the new owners and for the club.

After boosting confidence with a League Cup victory over Blackburn Rovers they then scored eight times in two games against the sides that had been first and second respectively. The atmosphere has now changed and, in that light, it is once again easy to see why the manager wishes to continue his work.

"Extremely proud and happy of the players for the attitude and results they have produced in two difficult fixtures during this week," Pochettino wrote on Instagram on Sunday night. "It is really satisfying to go to an international break with this feeling , although I prefer we have another game more sooner !"

The Blues felt the same way heading into the October internationals but, before that, the break couldn't come at a better time after a rocky start. Now the momentum is in the other direction but even so it might not be a poorly timed rest period for most.

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Chelsea still have seven players currently injured and despite that being a low number for them this season it is on par with their rivals and leaves a big hole. Romeo Lavia, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana and Christopher Nkunku are all yet to play a game since pre-season whilst Levi Colwill was a surpris abscentee from the squad against City.

Reece James made his third start in a row, his second in the league, but was still only able to complete 65 minutes as he continues to recover. Enzo Fernandez also started but was taken off in the second half, replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk, after he took a blow to the shin and ankle last week against Tottenham.

It was Colwill that surprised many at 4:30pm as his name was not only left out of the starting XI but also the matchday squad. He has a minor shoulder issue, football.london understands, but Pochettino was unable to give much of an update after the game. The boss asked assistant manager Jesus Perez the latest on the 20-year-old but it was only confirmed that the club would issue the latest on Monday.

Since then England have revealed that Callum Wilson and Lewis Dunk were joining James Maddison in being withdrawn from the squad with no reference to Colwill or his knock, perhaps an indication that he will be fine to continue for the Euro 2024 qualfiiers over the next two weeks.

Cole Palmer has been called up for the senior side with these drop outs, the first time for him, whilst Raheem Sterling missed out. James chose not to play in order to keep managing his minutes carefully.

Elsewhere Armando Broja returned to the side after several weeks out with another setback. He came on late to win the penalty for Palmer to score and equalise in the 94th minute. There have been some other positive updates for those not playing as well.

Pochettino will be keen to push Lavia and Nkunku towards a return in the weeks coming up and he spoke about the duo ahead of the meeting with City. "We had some conversation and he [Nkunku] said to me, 'Coach, I want to be ready for after the international break, Newcastle'.

"I asked him yesterday and he said 'hmmm', and I said 'you are liar'. 'No, no I am ready'. It is close and he is doing really well. We are so happy with him, the way he is recovering, he is very professional."

As for Lavia, Pochettino added: "Romeo is also close. They trained today on the pitch. Hope that next week will be involved with the team and see after. Day by day see when it is possible to play with the team."

Both players were spotted outside and on the grass on Friday, a big step towards potential debuts. Carney Chukwuemeka, meanwhile, is still getting back to fitness and hasn't played since the second game of the season. He did feature on the bench at Burnley at the start of October but has suffered a setback since.

Fofana is also working hard in the gym as he recovers from a long-term knee lay-off but isn't expected to play again this season. There has been no update on Chalobah and he is still in the mix to leave the club in January either permanently or on loan. Ben Chilwell is also out will be aiming for a late December-early 2024 return.