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Graham Potter fears his training sessions at Chelsea are being undermined by having too many players to work with. 

Chelsea currently have a first-team squad of 31 following an extraordinary January transfer window which saw the owners spend £323million on eight new players, with only Jorginho leaving Stamford Bridge, although new signings Andrey Santos and Malo Gusto have not been registered to play this season.

Potter has previously admitted that maintaining squad morale is proving a challenge because 'most players want to play,' and after a month of working with the larger group there are now concerns that the bloated numbers are affecting work on the training pitch.

In his previous jobs at Brighton, Swansea and Ostersunds Potter developed a reputation as a very hands-on coach who worked rigorously on patterns of play and team shape in training, but that approach is proving challenging at Chelsea as there are so many players to accommodate. 

Instead of his preferred method of running 11 v 11 training matches Potter has been forced to alter his coaching sessions to keep all the players involved, or leave several hanging around or working in a smaller group elsewhere until they are required.

As a result Potter has struggled to maintain continuity during training sessions, never mind during matches. The manager made six changes to the side beaten at Tottenham on Sunday as Chelsea slumped to a third successive defeat.