ANTONIO CONTE IS confident his Chelsea players have the character to bounce back from their miserable defeat to West Ham when they face Huddersfield Town on Tuesday.
The reigning Premier League champions were beaten by Marko Arnautovic’s early goal at London Stadium last weekend and sit 14 points adrift of runaway leaders Manchester City.
After the loss to West Ham, Conte conceded Chelsea’s hopes of retaining their title were now over, yet he is nevertheless backing his players to respond positively at Huddersfield.
“Against Newcastle we went 1-0 down and then we won 3-1. Against Atletico Madrid we were 1-0 down and then we drew and created chances to score. I think this team has character to find the right strength and then to come back if the result is not positive,” the Italian told a news conference.
“The first thing for us is to change the final result. We lost the game against West Ham despite dominating the game, controlling the game. We shot 19 times. We created many chances to score. At the end we lost the game.”
Chelsea were handed a tough tie with La Liga leaders Barcelona in Monday’s Champions League last-16 draw and Conte is focused on ensuring his team plays in Europe’s premier club competition next term.
“My experience tells me it’s impossible to win the title,” Conte added after his comments following the West Ham game were brought up.
“Now we must be focused in the league to go game by game, to do our best. This league is not simple.
“We have to fight to find a place in the Champions League. There are a lot of targets this season.”
Chelsea’s starting line-up at Huddersfield will predictably feature changes given the quick turnaround following Saturday’s match.
“In this case it’s right to make rotations. I can do this,” Conte confirmed. “My task is to find the best solution, [but] at the same time not lose our balance.”
-Omni
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what an awesome player Nacewa is. one of our best ever signings.
The Greatest Rugby Team of All-time.
Wanted urgently…..one decent referee…
Was at the game, and have to say, surprised at how undignified the Leinster fans were in defeat.
The booing was out of order. A fantastic game of rugby didn’t need that at the end.
Oh Leslie be quiet, you dont even know the reason for the boos- keep your ill informed opinions to yourself.
I was at the game. disgrace. Even Ulster stayed in their seats to clap the winners. I’m from Dublin, and know for sure that wouldn’t have happened in Munster #d4brigade #bringmorepeoplefromKildare.PS Molly Malone is a shit anthem, and repeating Leinster over and over gain, sounds really moronic
I am pretty shocked by the ref.poor decisions.Leinster are no slouches though.Come on Ospreys !!!
Nice to see the D4 Private School Elites won’t have such a smirk on their faces driving around in their BMW’s and Merc’s tomorrow.
Your mam must be so proud…
She actually is David. At least I didn’t grow up to be a wannabe wearing a Lunster jersey and supporting the goys, all just so I can fit in with my boss. There is more to aspire to in life than that.
what a narrow minded inbred little redneck you sound.
Neither did I or plenty of other fans who you’re happy to insult. I played club rugby in blanch and am glad to have a ticket to go and support players who come more and more from club teams. Snobbery is ignorant, but inverted snobbery is worse.
New Leinster sex position. On top for 76 min and still come second.
Ah for crying out loud, this blog is filled with idiots, great game of rugby disappointed they didn’t win but am delighted that all the begrudgers are happy! Including Donal lenihan! What a guy.
Fair enough we lost but this will keep us on our toes for next season when we win 3 in a row !! Well done ospreys !
Great game. Great win from Ospreys!
Great game but referee was terrible ! ISA was iconic ! O Driscoll was just about average !
I played club rugby in Blanch’s sister…
I see you gave yourself a thumbs up there john fair play cos it made no sense to anyone else.
Healy and o Brien were truly missed on the pitch today !
http://t.co/ryzy9hjm
https://twitter.com/kjetob/status/207445741101256704