Every word Enzo Maresca said on Chelsea win, shock Reece James revelation and Malo Gusto injury

Enzo Maresca has just concluded his post-match press conference following Chelsea's victory over Copenhagen in the first-leg of their Conference League round of 16 tie.

The Blues edged the Danes 2-1 at the Parken Stadium with Reece James and Enzo Fernandez striking for the visitors. Gabriel Pereira's header ensured the tie is still in the balance going into next week's decisive leg at Stamford Bridge.

Here is every word Maresca had to say:

Good to finally win away from home?

"A long time [laughs]! Yeah, very important for many reasons. For sure because it's away, for sure because it's a knockout game now so you need that. And also for the performance.

"They surprised us because in the last almost three years with this manager, they played two games with a line of five, so we didn't expect that. In the first-half, we controlled the game, we didn't create chances. Also, when we planned the game, we also expected not to create many chances when we have Shim [Mheuka], who is 17-years-old, Ty [George] is 17-years-old; we knew we would struggle a little bit.

"Overall, we deserved to win the game and it's good because we gave chances to all of them to get minutes."

How is Malo Gusto?

"He's okay, he's better. They just told me he can be ready for Sunday's game, so hopefully we can have him for Sunday's game."

How have you found Reece James on and off the pitch in the last few weeks?

"He is in a very good mood. He played very good against Aston Villa and again tonight. We know how important he is for us; he is our captain, a fantastic player but we all know the most important thing for Reece is that we need him fit. It is our duty and our target to keep him fit until the end because for sure, he is going to help us.

"Tonight, again, he played very good, scored a goal. He can play in many positions because the good players can play in many positions. At this moment, we are using him as a midfielder and he is doing very well."

Do you see him in midfield long-term?

"So, you can ask Reece; when I signed with Chelsea, probably the day after, I sent him a video about seeing him as a midfielder. I see Reece as a midfielder, not now - since day one, before I met him for the first time, he was on holiday. I sent him a clip about him playing as a midfielder.

"I mentioned Reece playing as a midfielder a long time ago. He is playing there now but the good thing is he played this year already as a full-back, as a centre-back and in the central midfielder. The main target for us is to help him be fit all season."

Did you lose concentration when conceding the goal?

"Yeah. Also because us being a bit sloppy. We could avoid that. It's football, it can happen. Now, 90 minutes is finished - we are happy, we won. We have 90 more minutes against them next week but now the most important thing for us, the main game for us is Sunday's game.

"It's at home; we need our fans for 90 minutes, 100 minutes, behind the team and pushing the team because every game is important from now on. Against Leicester on Sunday, I think we can take one more step for our target to finish in the top four or top five, I don't know. It's important, we need to be together to win on Sunday."

Were you surprised with Copenhagen?

"I watch many games when we face a team, so I watched many games from this season in the Conference League and also in the league. They never played with a line of five. In the last two years, they played two games with a line of five. Tonight they played with a line of five and surprised us.

"Overall, I think we did quite well. They are a very good team, they play very good football, with a good manager, good young players. Very good."

Afraid for the game next week?

"I'm always afraid, but now as I said, the focus is on Sunday's game and then we have two or three days to prepare for another game and that will be another difficult game."

Could you elaborate more on the video you sent to Reece? What made you think he may be good in midfield?

"First of all, when you watch a player you sometimes need to use imagination and imagining a player doing something. I always imagined him also behaving as a midfielder.

"I watched some of his games when he was on loan from Chelsea to Wigan where he scored a fantastic goal from 25 or 30 metres as a midfielder. I remember the video I sent him. The best thing about Reece at the moment is he is helping the team with leadership and he is growing a lot since I mentioned we needed him and this is important."