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Spaniard says the absence of key players has affected how quickly his ideas can take shape.

Xabi Alonso has said he is not worried by Chelsea’s low possession figures in the opening weeks of the Premier League season, though he accepts he wants his team to exert greater control in matches.

The Blues have taken a solid six points from their opening three league games of the campaign, but across those fixtures they have averaged only 36 per cent possession.

Even so, their use of the ball has been highly effective. Despite seeing little of it, Chelsea have scored eight goals from 48 shots.

Alonso maintains that Chelsea are creating enough opportunities for their limited possession not to be a major concern, although he admitted that having more of the ball would help shape the team’s identity.

“Possession is a key part, but for me the key part is to create chances, to have chances to win games, not to concede that many chances,” he said on Friday.

“Sometimes, for sure, with the ball you can control better, but sometimes you need to be able to feel that you are controlling when you have the ball, because the opponents are good and the context and the competition is really hard.”

Saturday’s clash with Hull, another side that tends to have little possession, is likely to provide Alonso with a different kind of challenge, as Chelsea may well see much more of the ball than they have so far this season.

Alonso admitted he may have to alter his plan when Hull visit Stamford Bridge, and suggested injuries to players such as Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson have so far limited his ability to do that. “I like to have the mindset to adapt, to compete.

“We have a clear idea that it’s going to be hard each game and the context of each game is different. We have scored so well in all the games. We will have to change, for sure, our approach of the game.

“But knowing that we are in the process of many things, I think that we are still in the early days to know what this team, for sure, is going to be. I think that we will develop many things. We will develop when important players are joining and they are able to play.

“We are having this feeling that we are competing well, but there are some things that we can do better, for sure.

“Tomorrow we are prepared, we are ready. There is not going to be complacency from us. We have full respect for them and we know that it will be hard to beat them. If we do things well, if we compete and play at our level, I think we will have a good chance.”