The Italian manager is currently under-fire for his side's recent struggles.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has revealed that he spoke at length with his players following Sunday's 6-0 humiliation against Manchester City at the Etihad. The Italian manager has dominated headlines in recent weeks with speculations suggesting that his sack may be imminent while his struggles with the Stamford Bridge outfit failing to fade away.

The heavy defeat to City saw Chelsea's demotion to the sixth position in the English Premier League. On Thursday, the Blues will have the opportunity to take a step in returning to winning ways when they take on Malmo in the Europa League Round of 32 tie.

Ahead of the clash, Sarri has iterated that he has asked his men to deliver a convincing response on the field of play. At a media conference on Wednesday, the ex-Napoli manager said: "We all talked together for one hour the day after the match. I think that it's better to work. Better to react on the pitch.

"In my opinion, the last game was not a problem of motivation. We were not able to react to the first difficulty during the match because, in the first four or five minutes, we started well. Then, after the first goal, we were not able to react.

"So the problem is different. But it's always a mind problem, a mental problem, so we need to solve them," Sarri added

"How have the last few days been? Not too easy, of course. But I think, after a match like in Manchester City, it's normal. It's not easy to play tomorrow after a 6-0, but we have to play and we have to play well.

"We want to win. We know that it will not really be very easy because we have to play against a very good team, I think. They are compact, they are solid. They have usually a very good defensive phase, so it won't be easy. But we want to win and react immediately."