Matic at home in Conte’s Chelsea midfield

Chelsea’s midfield is set for sterner tests under Antonio Conte with Leicester City and Manchester United in town in October, but Nemanja Matic insists he and new signing N’Golo Kante are reading from the same hymn sheet.

Conte made his name as the key cog in Juventus’ Champions League winning side in the 1990s, and after his move to south-west London has looked to stamp his swashbuckling style on Matic and Kante.

With the Frenchman alongside him in front of the back four rather than Cesc Fabregas this term, Matic has been given the licence to get further forward when the time is right – responding with a goal in last week’s defeat to Liverpool.

And the Serb believes the combination is getting better and better as he looks to make an ever greater impact higher up the pitch.

“If you see our games I think the midfield has played well. We fight for each other, and also if you see the last game against Leicester we did a good job,” he said.

“My role is more or less the same as before, but the only thing is now I can play maybe a little bit more offensively, maybe 10 per cent more than last season. I still have a difficult job and I have to run a lot.

“When we defend I have to be close to Kante to help him and the defensive line, and when we attack I have more freedom than him to go forward, like for the goal against Liverpool.

“In that moment we were playing with two in midfield because we were losing. I took a little risk, Eden [Hazard] gave me a good ball between the lines and I used it well. I can attack sometimes!”