Maresca added, “The three goals we conceded, I think all of them we can avoid. Certainly, we also received a very unnecessary red card today.

“After the first yellow card, I told him [Delap] four or five times to keep calm. But Liam is a player who, when he’s on the pitch, is probably playing the game for himself and struggles to realise and listen to those around him.”

It was Chelsea’s sixth red card in nine games, including Maresca’s own dismissal for celebrating a last-minute winner against Liverpool before the international break.

The Italian was asked to clarify whether he had wider concerns about indiscipline, with Chelsea also having received the highest number of yellow cards in the Premier League over the past three seasons.

He continued, “I completely understand when there are red cards like against Brighton [Trevoh Chalobah red] or Manchester United [Robert Sanchez red], that’s difficult, but the red cards against Nottingham Forest and today, both we can and have to avoid.

“It’s embarrassing when it’s a red card like today because it’s two yellow cards in five or 10 minutes. Both, I think, we can avoid. So it’s not good.”