Chelsea

Antonio Conte: 'I want Chelsea players to stay focused'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 03 February 2017

Antonio Conte warns his Chelsea players to "keep the antenna high" and not get complacent ahead of their Premier League clash against Arsenal on Saturday.

Antonio Conte has warned his Chelsea players not to get complacent over the next few weeks as they bid to win their second Premier League title in three years.

Conte's side go into Saturday's game against Arsenal with a nine-point lead at the top, with pundits suggesting that the title race will be all but wrapped up if the Blues triumph at Stamford Bridge.

However the Italian, who led Juventus to three straight titles, wants his squad to maintain the kind of "tension" that helped them win 13 straight league games after September's defeat at the Emirates Stadium.

"Anything can happen," he told reporters on Friday. "It's important to keep the antenna very high. If someone thinks that the league is finished, I'm not so sure.

"I want to have this tension, this right tension. In the past I fight to win the title and I know we must pay great attention. There are 15 games to play and there are a lot of great teams behind us.

"It's important to remember the defeat against Arsenal. It was a bad defeat, 3-0 after the first half. And in my mind it's present, it's always present, this defeat. I hope it's also in the mind of my players. A lot of things changed now. For sure we are a team. We want to have a good game tomorrow."

Chelsea last won the title in 2015 but stumbled to a 10th-place finish last season.