From the moment Antonio Conte took over in July, Cesc Fabregas knew he faced a tough task to prove he has not lost his magic touch.

Conte made it clear in pre-season that N’Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic and Oscar were his preferred choices in Chelsea’s midfield, leaving Fabregas little room to manoeuvre and he has yet to start a Premier League game this term.

The three midfielders favoured by Conte have one thing in common — their strengths lie in defence rather than attack. One poorly mistimed tackle in a friendly match against Liverpool in July, which earned a red card, showed the same could not be said for the Spain international.

However, the fans continue to sing their song about Fabregas’s ‘magic hat’ regularly and it is because the former Arsenal and Barcelona star can do things on the ball that few players in the game, let alone at Chelsea, can.

As the Blues slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool last Friday, the home side were sorely lacking the creativity Fabregas can provide.

For example, the 29-year-old can already lay claim to one of the assists of the season from when he came off the bench at Watford to play a sublime 50-yard pass for Diego Costa to score the winner last month.

Two goals in the thrilling win at Leicester in the EFL Cup third-round last night showed his form and attitude are not affected by Conte’s team selection in the top flight.

Most men boasting a CV with 10 honours, including two titles with Barcelona and Chelsea, plus a World Cup and a couple of European Championships with Spain, may display a bit more angst at their fate. But, publicly at least, Fabregas is toeing the line and understands Conte’s reasoning.

He said: “The coach speaks generally a lot. He spoke to me a few times as well. He wants the midfield to be very complete, to be physically strong and we are training very hard for that.

“Obviously, if you have to analyse me, I’m a little more of a playmaker and creative going forward, so he wants me to be a little more stable and compact in defence.

“For Matic, who is the opposite of me, he wants him to be better offensively. The same for Oscar and Kante. He works every aspect for us to be the best that we can.

“I know what I can do. After 13 years [since his professional debut] I know myself very, very well.

“I’m in a moment in my career where I feel very mature and know physically what I can give.

“I know when I have to press, I choose much better my game overall. I just want to play, give my all and I hope my time will come soon.”

In all likelihood, despite his heroics at Leicester, Fabregas will be back on the bench for his return to former club Arsenal in the League on Saturday.

Chelsea’s defensive record continues to be poor, even with the presence of the supposedly more solid midfielders in front of the back four.

They have still kept only one clean sheet this season and the nature of Shinji Okazaki’s brace for Leicester will be a source of embarrassment. But Conte is unlikely to abandon Plan A to reinstall Fabregas just yet, especially for such a key fixture.

For Fabregas, such a fate will hurt. Arsenal is where he spent eight years of his career and established a reputation as one of the best attacking midfielders.

Many of Arsenal’s following have made it clear that Fabregas’s defection to Barcelona in 2011, and then Chelsea in 2014, was unforgivable in their eyes. He has been booed loudly at Emirates Stadium and few Gunners fans will have sympathy for his plight.

However, the clash against Arsenal is still a special one for Fabregas. He said: “I lived moments there that I have probably not lived elsewhere in my career.

“It was a very special place for me and that’s it. No matter what I hear, what they say to me, Arsenal will always be a fantastic special place in my heart. They gave me everything. I will repeat it until I die. No matter what, they are always in my heart. It’s too early to know whether I will start or not. Hopefully, I will. I’m not going to deny that I want to play every single minute, this is what I work for. But the coach chooses the 11 he feels is best suited to win the game.

“Whatever I am, I will support the team, inside or outside. When my time comes, I will try to perform, as I have been doing over the last few weeks.”