The victory is Conte’s third in competitive matches as Chelsea boss, following 2-1 wins over West Ham and Watford in the Premier League – both of which came about thanks to late goals from Diego Costa. The blow leaves the club short of options heading into the fulcrum of the campaign which will stretch the 47-year-old’s squad to its limit.
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But Conte is keen to strengthen his defense further, seeing bids for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and AC Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli rejected.
“We remain with only four defenders for the back line”.
“I liked it because he played a good game with a good intensity”, Conte said.
“I’d rather speak with the club about transfers and we stay in contact every day”.
“We can improve this aspect, and stay concentrated until the end. It’s right to pay the player in the right way”.
But Rovers halved the deficit soon after through a Peter Hartley header and when Batshuayi doubled his tally just before half-time, Ellis Harrison made it 3-2 soon after the restart. “And when you have the opportunity to kill the game, you must kill it, not keep it open”.
“It’s a pity because when you’re playing very well, creating a lot of chances to score, I don’t like to concede a soft goal from a free-kick and a penalty”. We want to carry on winning matches but this won’t be an easy game, they’re a League One side and it’s often hard to play against teams from the lower leagues.
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Conte however, according to ESPN, wants to see his team be more comfortable in winning positions in future games, saying: “I knew the atmosphere around this cup and I could tell that these games are very tough for all”.
