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Trust in my players is absolute: Antonio Conte

The Chelsea manager feels his side must be switched on if they are to win the Double.

Trust in my players is absolute: Antonio Conte

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte (Photo: AFP)

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte revealed he has a full selection of players to choose from for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Arsenal, and is happy with the way his squad are trained in the build-up to the season’s final game.

Conte spoke at the pre-match press conference after the players had completed their final training session at Stamford Bridge in sweltering conditions.

The Italian tactician paid tribute to the people of Manchester, who are struck by the recent terror attack before speaking on anything related to football. “Tomorrow we have to play an important game and try to win an important trophy, but I don’t want to forget what happened in Manchester, and we are very close to the families of the people who have died,” he said.

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Complacency can creep into the best of teams and it is understandable if the newly-crowned Premier League champions chose to take in the build-up to the final at Wembley, but Conte asserts there has been no let up in the intensity of their training session.

“Honestly, I saw a lot of attention and concentration from my players. We trained very well this week.”Conte adds that he trusts his men, “In this aspect, I can stay calm, it’s impossible for me to not trust my players after this season but during the 90 minutes we must forget we won the league and be concentrated on this target. “

The Chelsea manager feels his side must be switched on from kick-off on Saturday.

“We must pay great attention but I trust a lot in my players, they’ve shown me all season they can reach a big target like the league. It will be a tough game for both teams but we are ready to fight, play a good game and try to win the trophy,” he said.

The Gunners will be without the suspended Laurent Koscielny and the injured Gabriel Paulista, but Conte's sole focus is on his own team rather than be centred on his opponent’s obvious defensive crisis.

“In this game, I think we must focus on ourselves and be very focused. It’s not important which players we will face. We must do what we know. If you start to think about a player missing it’s not important. Arsenal have a lot of top players,” Conte added.

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