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Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca has questioned the kick off time for their Premier League clash against Newcastle United on Sunday.
The Blues will take on Eddie Howe’s side in a Champions League decider clash at St James’ Park.
Chelsea are fifth in the standings with 63 points and a goal difference of 21 – the same as Newcastle who are fourth having scored four more goals than the London side this season.
Maresca said the 12 pm kick off for the clash is not ideal after Chelsea’s Conference League engagement on Thursday.
He said: “It’s a 12 p.m. kickoff and we played on Thursday night, so it’s not the ideal situation … It’s the first thing in the morning. But we need to play the game.
“So we need to adapt immediately, prepare for the game in the best way and hopefully we can continue our good moment.
“We have two days and the players need to be focused on the Newcastle game… For us, we have to think like it’s the last game of the season, give everything, and then we see at the end.”
The Italian manager has urged his players to be focused on winning their last three matches to stand a chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Maresca concluded: “It’s a big one, it’s a huge one (against Newcastle). (Manchester) United will be a big one, Forest will be a big one. Now we have three more games, all of them are going to be big games,” he said.
“We’re going to try to win the three games that we have. Now how many points (do) we need to finish in the top five? No idea, because it also depends on the other results.
“But we need to be focused on ourselves and try to win the three games. Then if it’s two or one, we don’t know, but the focus is to try to win the three games we have.”
Chelsea have won their last three Premier League matches against the likes of Fulham, Everton, and Liverpool.
