Fernandez was dropped from Chelsea's squad for a 7-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Port Vale last weekend, having made headlines with comments about his future.

During the international break, Fernandez suggested he could leave Chelsea after the FIFA World Cup and said if he could live in any city in the world, he would choose Madrid.

Rosenior said those comments had "crossed a line" and planned to drop him for two matches, but Fernandez's camp reacted angrily to him being sanctioned, with his agent Javier Pastore saying the punishment was "unfair".

Rosenior said both he and the Chelsea hierarchy were prepared to put the incident behind them, but not until after this weekend's match.

"I had a really good conversation – I've had three or four with Enzo," Rosenior said. "He's apologised to me and to the club, and we'll deal with that after a massive game on Sunday [Monday AEST against Manchester City].

"It's a serious meeting about something very serious. Enzo, every single step on the way, I've not been questioning his character, or who he is as a person. I believe people make mistakes.

"But you can't overstep the punishment for the mistake. We've made a sanction, I made a decision. What I want for Enzo is for him to go on and have an outstanding career.

"He won't play on Sunday [Monday AEST]. But hopefully after that he'll be a massive part of the group moving forward. There are still a few hurdles to be overcome that I won't go into. I want every player really focussed now on a huge run-in.

"Football is a team sport. It's not about individuals. There are certain values and cultures that I believe in that make the team stronger, if you get them right."

Chelsea is sixth in the Premier League table after losing three of its past four games going into the international break, but it has been boosted by the confirmation that England will have five UEFA Champions League qualification places for next season.

"I don't think a magician could make the team look how I want it to, in the time I've had so far," Rosenior added.

"Any manager that comes in January – you have 20 games in 10 weeks. You're trying to get to know players, you try to make evaluations. It's difficult for anyone. For me, it's using the time as best as we can.

"I know what I want the team to look like. It may take time, but it cannot be at the expense of fulfilling short-term objectives. Qualifying for the [UEFA] Champions League is all we can focus on right now."