Conte impressed with victory at Stoke

Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte said he's satisfied with the performance of his players in their hard-fought 2-1 victory against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon. It was a physical match that saw a lot of yellow cards and one red card for Stoke's defender Phil Bardsley in the closing moments of the game but it was Players' resilience that impressed Conte most.

"For sure this is an important win. Against a strong team, it is not easy in this point in the season to come here and to play in Stoke against a strong team with a good quality and tactical organisation. We showed from the start a great will to win, from the start to the end. I am very pleased with this, as they showed me a good will to win but that they were prepared to fight to win this game, because it wasn't easy."

Diego Costa was a target of Stoke City's defender, who kicked and harassed him all through the match. Costa was so angry with the Referee for failing to protect him which resulted to a booking for the forward but he still did well to finish the match as Antonio Conte explained. 

"It is not simple to get a yellow card after a few minutes. Diego is showing, all this season not just this game, that he is very disciplined, great commitment, showed me to think for the team and not for himself and I want this from my players, this type of behaviour. He was great, he played a difficult game but he always showed danger for the defensive line for Stoke. I think that the it is normal to try to bring a player to be angry and then to react and to commit another foul. It's normal this. I think the great news is that Diego is showing to be a great player, also in this aspect. I know in the past sometimes he has received two yellow cards and he has not finished the game, but this season, honestly, I have to be pleased for him and for his beahviour." Conte said