Chelsea legend Pat Nevin has explained why he thinks the Europa Conference League has been a "lifesaver" for Blues boss Enzo Maresca this season.
Chelsea are competing in the Conference League for the first-ever time this year after finishing sixth in the Premier League last term.
Maresca has so far used the competition as a way of rotating his large squad, giving minutes to players who aren't playing in the Premier League, such as Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
It's for that reason that Nevin, who made 242 appearances for Chelsea between 1983 and 1988, believes the competition is so important for the Italian coach this year.
“What it is, I think, is very handy. Really handy," Nevin told Squawka in a recent interview. "There are a number of players who would be very, very put out just now if they weren’t getting any games at all."
"You’ve got a number of players now that are playing quite regularly, European football," he added. "So it’s been a bit of a lifesaver."
Chelsea have won both of their two games in the Europa Conference League so far, beating Genk and Panathinaikos, scoring eight goals in the process.
Maresca recently eluded at his desire for his team to go far in the competition, but Nevin thinks the Chelsea boss, nor his team, would be too upset over an early exit should it happen.
"I know from the club you’ll never hear anything other than ‘Yes, we want to win it. We’ve never won this trophy before’, all the positives," he said. "Will there be wailing and gnashing of teeth if they went out? Absolutely not. It’s not the core of what you need to do as a group."
Next up for Chelsea in the Europa Conference League is Armenian side Noah, who they welcome to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.
Speaking ahead of the game, Maresca said that his side "need to be ready tactically but also mentally."
"In today's football, you can find a good player, a good squad, a good manager everywhere, not only in the most important league in Europe or the world. In this kind of country, you can find important things and for sure, they have some good players also," he explained.
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