The scene is the City Ground, where Chelsea travelled to kick off 2023.
A few days earlier they appeared to have put their pre-World Cup slump behind them with a 2-0 home win over Bournemouth, albeit one marred by an aggravated knee injury for star defender Reece James.
Having had the World Cup break to instil some of his methods there were another few days for Graham Potter to work with his players before they travelled to then second-bottom Nottingham Forest and a plan had been concocted for Steve Cooper’s side.