Cesc Fabregas is frustrated by his peripheral role at Chelsea.

But the 31-year-old playmaker says he will not moan about being a back-up choice for Maurizio Sarri.

Fabregas, who has won two Premier League titles since joining Chelsea in June 2014, said: “I know what my role is. Unfortunately it’s not the one I want.

“It’s a difficult situation for me, obviously. I’m playing the cups and the Europa League.

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Cesc Fabregas has had a reduced role with Chelsea this season (John Walton/PA)

“I’m not someone who you’ll see complaining or not giving his all because of that. I’ll always be there showing my face when needed.”

Fabregas, whose only Premier League start this season came in the defeat at Wolves last week, was described as a leader and a key player by Sarri earlier this month.

The former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with AC Milan. Fabregas is free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs from January 1.

Sarri admitted Chelsea’s long-standing policy of one-year deals for players aged over 30 was a stumbling block.

The Italian also expressed his wish for Fabregas to stay, even though Jorginho is preferred in the position, saying: “It’s very difficult to find a central midfielder technically like Fabregas.”

Asked if Sarri’s comments made any difference to his view on his own future, Fabregas added: “No. I know I have an idea. But we’ll see what happens. It’s too early to talk about this now.”

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Fabregas’ seventh start of the season came in Chelsea’s 2-2 Europa League draw with Vidi of Hungary in a match with little consequence as the Blues had already advanced to the last 32 as Group L winners.

The 2010 World Cup winner with Spain found the game difficult.

He added: “We changed the whole team again. Minus one degrees, the pitch was terrible, the referee (Macedonia’s Aleksandar Stavrev) was probably one of the worst I’ve seen in my whole career, a disaster.

“The free-kicks he was giving to them… he was giving them everything. It’s like for a favour or because he felt they were weaker than us. I couldn’t understand some of the decisions he gave.”