Enzo Maresca has admitted Chelsea’s disciplinary record must improve but the head coach is adamant he will never punish his players for getting red cards.

Chelsea, who will be without the suspended João Pedro when they host Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday night, were reduced to 10 men for the fourth time this season when Malo Gusto received a needless second yellow card during the closing stages of last Saturday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

The statistics suggest that Chelsea, who have picked up 28 yellow cards in all competitions, are making life unnecessarily difficult for themselves. They are bottom of the Premier League’s fair play table and Maresca, who served a touchline ban against Forest after being sent off against Liverpool this month, acknowledged that Gusto’s dismissal for a late tackle highlighted where his team can show more restraint.

“It’s something that we can do better,” the Italian said. “The last one is completely avoidable, because it’s 0-3, the game is finished. For sure there is something that we have to improve.”

Maresca added context, saying that Gusto’s challenge stemmed from a desire to preserve a clean sheet. But accusations of naivety are not going away....