Not looking at EPL table, working hard, insists Chelsea coach Conte

After their recent win against Southhampton in the English Premier League (EPL), Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte has said that instead of looking at the points table, the London football club is working hard to bring more improvement to their game.

Eden Hazard and Diego Costa scored excellent goals on Sunday as Chelsea defeated Southhampton 2-0 at the St. Mary Stadium to maintain their winning spree and fired them into top-four in the EPL standings.

It was the third successive game in which Hazard had scored, swelling his season's tally to five. They are now two points ahead of rivals Tottenham and one behind Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

"We are working a lot. I'm seeing a lot of positive things in the team. We are not looking at the table, but continuing just to work. At this moment, it's not important for us to look at the table," Conte told Chelsea's website.

"We are in a good position, but it's not important. It's more important to work very hard and trust the work will improve us. Game by game, I'm seeing a lot of possibilities. I have confidence because we can improve a lot," he added.

"The only way that we must know now is to continue to work. Not look at the table. If you ask me a prediction or an expectation of our championship, now it's very difficult to talk about this."

The former Juventus and Italy coach also said that he is happy to see unity in the team after they finished an underwhelming 10th last season.

"You can see last season was bad, but not only for one player but many players. If you arrive 10th in the table, it means the season wasn't good for all the team," the former Juventus captain said.

"You win, you lose together, never as only one player. I want to see my players always working together and enjoying playing football together.

"This wasn't an easy game for us, and to stay that close in the title race, to first place, is good. It gives us great confidence."

--IANS

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