Marc Cucurella believes Chelsea have made a solid start to the season under Enzo Maresca. The Blues sit third in the Premier League table before November's international break - above Arsenal and Nottingham Forest on goal difference - having won five and drawn four of their opening 11 matches.

Since the last international break, the Blues have picked up five points from matches against Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Arsenal. In comparison to the same stage last season, Chelsea sit seven places higher in the standings and they are making considerable strides during Maresca's time in charge.

Maresca replaced Mauricio Pochettino as the head coach this summer, and he has helped improve the Blues into a team that can challenge for the top four places. For Cucurella, he sees a clear sign of progress made under Maresca, even if the defender knows there is much, much more to come.

"We now finish in the top four before the international break, so I think we are starting to do things well," Cucurella told Chelsea's in-house media. It's early and we still have a lot of games to play, but we need to be proud of the job we've been doing and keep working hard because the league is long and we want to stay at the top.

"We started a new project with a new manager and new ideas only a few months ago, so we need to be proud of the performance. We need to keep going at this level. If we play hard and train hard I think we can do good things this season. We have top players and a top young squad with a lot of ambition.

"For sure, it's early, so we have a lot of things to improve. Going into the international break third signifies that we are doing things well but we cannot relax. We need to keep working and be ambitious. We have the talent but we need to show on the pitch every week that we deserve to stay in the top four."

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