Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech knows that both he and his Chelsea teammates need to gel together as quickly as possible over the coming weeks.

The Moroccan international finally made his debut as a substitute in the 3-3 draw against Southampton yesterday and although he knows it will take some time to adapt to playing with his new team, he says there will be very little opportunity to do so considering the packed fixture schedule:

“Of course it will take time [to learn and adapt] but we also don’t have time, because the games are coming really quick. So we have to learn quick. Of course, these are the moments we learn from, but yeah, it can’t happen, last-minute…”

As Ziyech suggests, it is very much a baptism of fire for this new-look Chelsea squad. Manager Frank Lampard has a difficult task in integrating all his new signings with limited time on the training pitch. Circumstances mean they will have to effectively learn on the job.

Perhaps such an intense run of fixtures will accelerate the adaptation process for the likes of Ziyech and other new signings, but Blues fans will be hoping there will be far fewer results like the one we saw yesterday in upcoming games.