Chelsea 2-0 Everton: Enzo Maresca revels in Blues win after "worst 48 hours" at Stamford Bridge

Enzo Maresca has claimed that he endured his "worst 48 hours" as Chelsea head coach prior to Saturday's 2-0 victory against Everton.

Chelsea secured a deserved win over the in-form Toffees courtesy of goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto in the first half.

As a result, Chelsea now sit in fourth position in the Premier League table, but the Blues entered the contest on the back of a four-game winless streak since the dominant success over Barcelona last month.

Maresca and his players have received criticism for their inconsistencies after below-par showings against Leeds United, Bournemouth and Atalanta BC.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday evening, Maresca appeared to criticise anyone who 'failed to support' both himself and his squad.

Chelsea boss Maresca speaks out on 'lack of support'

When commenting on the performances of Gusto and Reece James, Maresca said: "It's the effort from the players. Reece and Malo are both full-backs but today they were midfielders. With so many problems, the players are doing very well after a complicated week.

"Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst since I joined the club because many people didn't support us."

When asked to elaborate on his comments, the Italian added: "Worst 48 hours since I joined the club because people didn't support me or the team in general. I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans."

Prior to those comments, Maresca moved to acknowledge the amount of Premier League games that had been missed by some of his key players, arguably an indication that he feels that more consideration should have been given to that aspect of Chelsea's season.

Maresca said: "I really praise the players and the squad because we've played 16 Premier League games, five of them without Moises Caicedo, 11 of them without Cole Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap.

"This squad has been doing fantastic. We have played almost the whole season without our best player. I am so happy for the players. People on the outside can appreciate that."

Why Maresca comments will divide opinion

When Chelsea overcame Barcelona and battled to a draw with Premier League leaders Arsenal having played with 10 men for over 50 minutes, Maresca had everyone onside.

However, the performances against Leeds United, Bournemouth and Atalanta fell considerably short of the levels produced in the previous double-header.

Some will point to Chelsea's youthful squad as reason behind their inconsistency, whereas some will argue that Maresca has made a number of questionable selection decisions and over-used players such as Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez.

Tuesday's EFL Cup quarter-final at Cardiff City should, in theory, see a number of players given the night off ahead of the Christmas and New Year schedule.

Nevertheless, questions and criticism aimed at Maresca felt justified, particularly when some players in the squad have seemingly been cast aside to a certain degree when they could have been played to protect key players.