Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard has insisted that his side are looking forward to "a fresh start" under new manager Antonio Conte after their horror season in 2015-16.

The Blues mounted the worst title defence in Premier League history as they limped to a mid-table finish, leaving them without European football for the first time in 20 years.

Hazard went all season without scoring until April 23, following on from a campaign in which he had netted 14 times to be named Chelsea's player of the season.

"Everybody needs to be the same player as two years ago," he told Sky Sports News. "We tried to find a lot of excuses for why we didn't play well last season, but we don't know why. Maybe some players were tired, but we need to be focused and train hard to be ready.

"It's a fresh start. We have one objective together, to do better than last season. We try to forget last season and be ready for the future.

"It's the first time since I came here I will not be playing Champions League or Europa League. For us it's new, but we need to adapt, one game for one week, and we will see how we can do. We have a lot of rest in the week. For recovery it's very good, sometimes in the Champions League you travel far and come back late. Sometimes it's difficult. Now we just have one game and we need to concentrate on this game."

Conte's charges begin their Premier League campaign at home to London rivals West Ham United on Monday night.