It has been a fortnight of vindication for Enzo Maresca, though one he would rather have swerved.

Across three Premier League matches either side of Christmas, his young Chelsea side have at last provided some evidence for his long-held theory that this is at least one season too early to talk of the title as a realistic aim.

Four points from a run of games including two west London derbies and a trip to an Everton side in peak defensive form does not represent a disastrous return, even if any rival hoping to catch Liverpool will have to be near-perfect from here in. But within those games, the small flaws of which Maresca is acutely aware have leapt to the fore.

The warning signs were there in the 2-1 win over Brentford, after which Maresca fumed at the way his side had set up a potentially nervy finish by allowing Bryan Mbeumo to pull a goal back for the visitors, with a hefty period of stoppage time to come.

“We conceded the goal on 90 minutes, throw-in for us, we conceded a goal,” Maresca explained. “A team that knows how to win titles, they are not going to concede that goal.”

The warning was not heeded, though, because in a similar scenario against Fulham - only this time holding only a 1-0 lead - Maresca’s side failed to exhibit the control the Italian craves and conceded twice late on to turn three points into none.

In between, they were frustrated in a goalless draw at Goodison Park, managing only one shot on target after half-time and paying the price for a lack of edge when chances were in ruder supply early on.

“If you are able to be clinical there and score, then the game is probably different,” Maresca said. “But until that moment, you are going to struggle."

Ipswich may well pose a similar test on Monday, having held Arsenal to a single goal at the Emirates last week, and Maresca will hope lessons have been learned, with his side having slipped ten points off leaders Liverpool and needing victory to climb back above Nottingham Forest and Arsenal into second.

Still, the trip to Portman Road looks the perfect opportunity to get back on track, something the Blues have done well this season, their previous two league defeats followed by six- and nine-game unbeaten runs. Inconsistent as they were prior to Maresca’s arrival, you still have to go back to September of last season under Mauricio Pochettino for the last time Chelsea went three league games without a win.

“We never thought we were going to win every game but now we’ve lost,” Maresca said following the Fulham defeat. “We lost on August 18 [to Manchester City] and then, after two months [to Liverpool on October 20], then another two months, and we know the reality is that you don’t lose a game every two months.

“Now it’s just a matter of how we react and we go again.”

Ipswich’s chief threats come in the dugout and at centre-forward, and Maresca knows both well. In charge of Leicester, Maresca shared a pair of 1-1 draws with Kieran McKenna in their two Championship meetings last term and was full of admiration for the man who was heavily linked with his current job last summer.

“Even this year they are doing well so congratulations to him for the way he’s doing everything since he joined the club and even this season he’s doing very well,” he said.

Then there is Liam Delap, the Tractor Boys’s standout player this term who once played under Maresca in Manchester City’s academy.

"Liam is a fantastic player, and also for his age," said Maresca. "I think we spent one year together and he scored [about] 22 to 24 goals. He is a very good striker.

"England have many good players, many good strikers [but] he's working hard off the ball and on the ball, understands the game and can score goals. I think he can be an important player for England."