Everton make the visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday with Chelsea looking to secure a back-to-back win.
Antonio Conte held his usual pre-match press conference with the usual journalists assembled from the usual sources admitting he is surprised to see Eden Hazard called up by Belguim
Conte, addressing the upcoming clash between Chelsea and Everton confirmed that just about all players are fit and are up for consideration for selection this Sunday apart from Eden Hazard, who will not play, with Conte remarking about the 26-year-old Belgian being called up for international duty,
”The only player not fully fit is Hazard. He is improving. Today he is playing Under-23 against Everton. He is not fully fit. The other players are available. I see Eden every day,’ said Conte.
‘I knew only 30 minutes ago (of his Belgium call up). For sure I am a bit surprised about this decision. I was a coach in the Italy national team and I respect the decision of their coach. Hazard is playing this afternoon with the Under 23’s.’
‘In this situation, it’s very important to give the right time to players to recover very well. If someone thinks to accelerate the process, it is not the right way. It is a great mistake. We must pay great attention not to make a mistake.’
‘I hope to have the whole team back and start to think about Hazard. We are going to play seven games in a month, I need to rotate players. If someone is thinking I can use only 11 or 13 players, it is impossible. I have to rotate players. We must be ready to face this situation.
‘The challenge is for the club, the players and the fans. We think with ‘us’, not myself. We are trying to strengthen our squad. If we our in the transfer market, it means we need to improve our squad.
When pushed on whether Chelsea will be active in the transfer market as we await its closure on August 31st, Conte was particularly tactful, just remarking,
‘My focus is only on the pitch. The club is working very hard… and we will see what happens at the end of the transfer market. We have to continue to work. If we stay with these players I am very happy.’
As for Chelsea`s opponents this Sunday, Everton, Conte had nothing but praise for the job Ronald Koeman has done at the club, further adding,
‘Ronald Koeman has built a really strong team. This season they improved a lot and we must pay great attention on Sunday.
It’s important after a really good win over Tottenham to continue in this way.’
And as for the Champions League draw that was held in Monaco on Friday, Conte said:
‘It’s a tough group but when you play these types of competition you must be prepared to face strong teams. It’s very difficult to say if it’s a good group stage or a bad group stage. It’s important to do our best.’
See also
Steve Nicol: ‘This top Conte target WILL sign for Chelsea this summer’
Chelsea’s £30m bid rejected! | Club want at least £10m more
Chelsea handed boost in pursuit of Italy international
