Nevin: Chelsea’s Conte believes in FA Cup magic

Fans and pundits alike may believe the ‘magic’ of the FA Cup is dwindling, but that is certainly not the case for runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea according to club legend Pat Nevin.

The Blues are eight points clear of Manchester City at the league’s summit, but also progressed into the quarter finals of the FA Cup last weekend where they will face a showdown with Manchester United and former manager Jose Mourinho.

Manager Antonio Conte made seven changes to his side that beat Wolves on Saturday, with the back three and goalkeeper completely different to the side that took on Burnley in their previous Premier League game.

But Nevin – a fans’ favourite during his time with the Blues in the 1980’s when he made almost 200 appearances – is adamant that rather than fielding a weak team, Conte picked a side that was perfectly equipped to progress in the competition and maintain the momentum at Stamford Bridge.

“The thing to always remember is that a season is about a number of competitions if you are a football club and you have to manage them all in the best way you can,” he said.

“Go full blast at every competition and we have all witnessed teams blowing up and failing from tiredness and injury at the end.

“From Chelsea’s point of view, the weekend was a perfect opportunity to give some of the players that haven’t been starting regularly some invaluable game time.

“So JT [John Terry], Nathan Ake and Kurt Zouma all got the shout along with Asmir Begovic at the back – and because it was still a team picked to win it had all sorts of other benefits as well.

“Squad morale is helped by others getting a chance, but the run keeps going and the manager knows just who is capable of fitting in to the Premier League side when needed.

“By the looks of it most of them would slot in pretty effortlessly, but even the players that were ‘rested’ can look upon the positives.”