Antonio Conte says trophy-winning experience fuels Chelsea’s title charge

Antonio Conte believes the trophy-winning experience in his Chelsea ranks could prove key to the leaders’ pursuit of a second Premier League title in three years after watching his team open up an 11-point lead at the top with victory over Swansea City.

Chelsea’s win was their 12th in succession at Stamford Bridge, equalling a club record, and was achieved despite the shock of going into the break level after Fernando Llorente’s equaliser in stoppage time. But class told thereafter, with Conte ready to lean on the experience within his ranks to ensure focus is maintained for the final three months of the campaign.

“Keeping that focus is not easy over the whole championship but I have a lot of players who have won [titles] in the past,” said the Italian. “They know very well the way that we must continue to try to keep at the top of the table, to try and win the title. For this reason I’m lucky. I’m lucky to have a lot of players who, in the past, won a lot of trophies.

“If, sometimes, I can see some of them relaxing, it’s right for me to try and help them be focused for every moment. But, honestly, it hasn’t been necessary for me to keep the concentration and focus of the players yet. I have a team who, until now, have deserved to stay at the top of the table. Above all I think we deserve to stay there at the moment. We are playing good football, with good intensity, scoring a lot of goals. Trust me, I’m very happy above all for my players. They are deserving this. Every day I see them during the training sessions, the commitment and behaviour. They deserve this.

“Today we were a bit frustrated to be 1-1 at half-time but I told them: ‘We are playing very well, dominating the game, creating chances but it’s 1-1. We don’t deserve this but that’s the reality. So go into the second half and push because we need to win.’ They did this. In these situations, when the tension starts to increase, you’ve got to see the right answers from my players. Today I saw a lot of right answers from my players.”

Swansea, infuriated at the non-award of a penalty after César Azpilicueta’s handball early in the second half, are three points clear of the relegation zone but will benefit from Llorente’s influence over the remainder of the campaign after successfully keeping him out of Chelsea’s clutches in January. The leaders had hoped to add the Spain international, who worked under Conte at Juventus, to their own ranks as a back-up for Diego Costa.

“I wasn’t always confident we’d keep him but I’m certainly glad we have,” said Paul Clement. “I didn’t have to fight to keep him but we did have some discussions together and in the end [the move] didn’t happen. Fernando’s still very pleased to be with us and very motivated to do well at the club. He’s a key player for us and will be a big help for us in the run-in.”