Fabregas: Conte’s will to win is key to Chelsea

There may be clear daylight between Chelsea and the Premier League’s chasing pack but Cesc Fabregas insists his side will never rest on their laurels while Antonio Conte is in charge.

In his first season, the Italian has masterminded a Chelsea reboot – from their miserable tenth-placed finish last year to a lead that is fast looking unassailable with 12 games to go.

Fabregas is one of the players enjoying a resurgence under Conte but the Spain international says the team do not believe in their own hype.

“(Conte’s) very demanding in that he wants to win,” Fabregas explained. “He puts the word ‘win’ in our brain nearly every day – win, win, win. Improve, improve, improve.

“That’s a mentality we have to follow. That’s very important. In football you can be the best in the world, you can play with the best in the world, you can have played 1000 games or scored 1000 goals, but the most beautiful thing about football is that you can always improve.

“You are doing what you love. Obviously there are hard moments. Not everything is fantastic. You have to be ready for that, but there is something about the ups and downs football gives you that is the reason why we love this sport so much.”