Chelsea4 - 2Gent

Not for the first time this season, the Italian made 11 changes to his starting lineup for a fixture in a cup competition in an effort to keep players fresh and involved as the season progresses.

The Blues had minimal problems in dispatching their Belgian opponents at Stamford Bridge, despite conceding two goals once they had initially established a two-goal lead.

Renato Veiga, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall all got on the scoresheet to kick off the league phase of the third-tier European tournament in style.

Maresca is expected to take the same approach with his team selection for the remaining five games with Chelsea attempting to finish in the top eight and avoid a knockout tie during the early part of 2025.

Maresca speaks highly of emerging trio

Speaking at a press conference after the game, Maresca was quizzed on the performances and development of Renato Veiga, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Cesare Casadei.

Veiga was signed from Basel for his versatility and physicality, the Portuguese generally being deployed at left-back or in defensive-midfield, but he was used further forward versus Gent.

Maresca said, as quoted by football.london: "It's similar to Cesare Casadei in terms of physicality. He is tall, he is big. Tonight he played like an attacking midfielder, in the pocket for the first time of the season for us.

"He did very well. You never imagine Renato arriving in the box and scoring from the other side. That means he is doing well.

"When we needed him as a holding midfielder against Bournemouth, he was there. The other day against Brighton, as a full-back. He is versatile. Tonight he was playing like an attacking midfielder but overall I think he did well."

On Casadei, who was starting his second game in a deeper midfield role than he has previously been used to, Maresca added: "Cesare played very good against Barrow and even better tonight. I am very happy with the way he is playing. I had Cesare last year and he was playing a little bit in different position.

"This year, we are using him like a holding midfielder. The reason why is because I think we go in the direction where the middle you need physical players.

"Cesare is very big, physically strong and helps us when we want to press. On the ball, he is improving a lot. Tonight he played one touch, so we are very happy. For him, it's the same as the rest; many things he can do better but he is in the right direction."

'I understand Kiernan's situation'

Despite his £30m price-tag, Dewsbury-Hall has been restricted to 44 minutes in the Premier League, but Maresca says that he is happy with the impact of a player that he worked with at Leicester City.

Maresca said: "I know Kiernan very well from last year. I completely understand how difficult it is in this moment for Kiernan in terms of he was the main player at Leicester, you join Chelsea and you become one of the players.

"You are on the bench, you are not in the squad, you are not playing from the start, so you struggle a little bit at the beginning.

"But he needs to understand the reason he is here is because we want him. The celebration [from Maresca] is probably because I know he needs that. This is the reason why."

All three players are expected to drop out of the starting lineup when Chelsea play host to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.