(Reuters) – Chelsea’s players have been able to implement Enzo Maresca’s style of play quicker than the Italian manager expected, but he said on Tuesday that the team still had room for improvement ahead of a Premier League game against Southampton.

Maresca was brought in earlier this year and tasked with returning Chelsea to the Champions League, after the London outfit finished sixth last season and 12th in the 2022-23 campaign.

Chelsea are third in the standings with 25 points from 13 games, level with second-placed Arsenal and nine points behind leaders Liverpool.

Asked if he was surprised at how well his side were doing, Maresca said: “For sure. I still consider this a big job, but this doesn’t mean, because it’s a big job, you are not thinking to do the right things.

“In terms of expectation, we are ahead of my expectation, in the way we are playing and in terms of results. We started four or five months ago; it’s very, very, very, very early, a short time together.

But the best feeling I have is that there are many things we can do better and we are (going) in the right direction.

Chelsea will be looking to extend their five-game unbeaten run in the league when they visit bottom-placed Southampton, but Maresca warned that the south-coast club’s position in the standings was not indicative of their actual level.

Liverpool and Manchester City were both made to work for their narrow wins over Southampton in recent weeks, while Russell Martin’s side also managed a draw with fourth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion in their last league fixture.

“We need to be ready otherwise it will be a bad day for us and the reason why is because, if you analyse the results, they are there,” the Italian manager said.

“The way they have played since last year – when I was in the Championship – I know them quite well. They are very brave and it’s very clear what they want, they want to keep the ball and we want the same.”

Maresca added that defender Wesley Fofana, who limped off the pitch in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, will be sidelined for weeks with a hamstring injury.

Fofana’s absence will be keenly felt, with the Frenchman having built a strong partnership with Levi Colwill at the heart of Chelsea’s defence.

“We need to wait a little bit and hopefully we can get some more news in the next days,” Maresca said.

“But, for sure, he will be out for the next weeks. It depends on the gameplan, Benoit (Badiashile) could be one of the solutions, but we have different players that can play there.

“It’s a big loss because Wes was doing fantastic every game, but we need to accept it and find a solution.”

(This story has been corrected to make clear that Chelsea will be playing away at Southampton in paragraph 7)

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)