Chelsea

Antonio Conte: 'Success for Chelsea more important than player happiness'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 18 February 2017

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte admits that he will continue to prioritise a winning team over the happiness of individual players.

Antonio Conte has admitted that success for Chelsea is more important than individual happiness for the club's players.

The Blues are flying high in the Premier League, sitting eight points clear at the top of the table, and remain in contention for the FA Cup.

However, a number of players have found themselves frozen out under Conte, such as captain John Terry, while Diego Costa is reported to want a switch to the Chinese Super League.

The Italian coach told Sky Sports News: "The most important thing, the target, is to win, not to try to have 21 players happy.

"I want to be happy, but I'm happy if we win. Not if we lose and have 21 players happy. To be happy we go to the theatre, [to] the cinema.

"I want the players to try to fight to put me [under] pressure, [to give me] problems to solve, to make the best solution for the team. We must continue to put the team above all."

Chelsea have the chance to progress in the FA Cup on Saturday evening with a fifth-round away fixture at Wolverhampton Wanderers.