Breaking New:“They feel the pain ” – Pochettino’s message to Chelsea players after losing the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool at Wembley

Virgil van Dijk’s late header in extra time settled the destination of the trophy in what was Pochettino’s first final as Chelsea head coach.

The Blues had arguably the better of the chances over the course of a closely fought 120 minutes, but were denied by a combination of the offside flag, Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, and the woodwork.

It ultimately wasn’t to be for Chelsea at Wembley once again, but Pochettino hopes his players will use the frustration and disappointment felt to improve over the remainder of the campaign.

‘They are professional,’ said Pochettino. ‘Now we need to move forward, but they need to feel the pain.

‘When you’re playing for a trophy, nothing you can say will make them feel better. They need to realise that we need to work, we need to do things better and improve.

‘To compete at this level, you need to feel what it means to play for a big trophy. I remember that after three or four years [under Jurgen Klopp] Liverpool had lost the Europa League final and lost the Champions League final.

‘But they kept believing in their project and got stronger each season until they got what they wanted. That is a good example and if we want to challenge a team like Liverpool, we need to keep believing, that is the most important thing.’

As was the case with the Chelsea head coach, the majority of the squad were representing the club in a major final for the first time. And Pochettino stated he was pleased with thee effort and endeavour shown by his players.

‘Of course, we made a few changes, with Conor Gallagher and Ben Chilwell [coming off] in extra time, but we didn’t keep the energy up, like how it was when we finished the second half. But for sure I feel proud of the players.

‘We are a young team, but we will keep believing and see what we can do in the future. Tomorrow we need to train and go again for Wednesday.