Trevoh Chalobah has issued a rallying cry to his Chelsea team-mates to treat Saturday's trip to Newcastle as a cup final after a downturn in results.
Chelsea's 2-0 defeat away at Manchester City in the Carabao Cup third round means Graham Potter's side have now won only one of their last four matches.
With the Blues currently sitting seventh in the Premier League and six points behind in-form Newcastle, Chalobah has urged the squad to rise to the occasion in their final match before the World Cup hiatus.
"It's going to be a massive game," he said. "They're in good form at the moment and it's away from home so we need to make sure we rest and recover. It's a final for us really, we want to go into the World Cup break on a high and with three points."
Potter has encouraged a greater work rate from Chelsea’s players but is still struggling to find his best lineup and system. However, a clear pattern of play is emerging and Chalobah has urged supporters to stick with the squad while they adapt to their new head coach.
"It's not going to happen overnight," he added. "We're going to get there, we showed a bit of confidence playing out from the back and had a lot of chances [against City].
"We could have come out with something from that game, but when you concede two against City it's always hard to come back. We've got to learn from this.
"We've got to make progress. After the game today, we showed some glimpses of things we've been working on that we can take into the next game."
By simply fronting up after another defeat, Chalobah showed great leadership during Chelsea’s disappointing run.
He was ultimately substituted in Manchester on Wednesday but had played every single minute of football for over a month since Wesley Fofana's injury.
Chelsea have a defensive injury crisis but Chalobah remains proud of his physical efforts to help the club during a tough stretch.
"It's been a tough one for myself, played a lot of games and the body is feeling it but just got to push through," he said. "We've had a few injuries so I’ve tried to keep myself in the best shape in the best way possible to get selected."
Gareth Southgate will name England's final 26-man squad for the World Cup on Thursday afternoon. As he has been for Chelsea, Chalobah says he would be ready for his national team.
"For me, I leave it in God's hands,” he said. "It's not been my focus but I've just tried to play every game here for Chelsea and give myself a chance. But if not, rest up and go again second part of the season."
