Blues must be clinical – Conte

Antonio Conte warned his Chelsea side they must be more clinical despite racking up a 10th straight Premier League win with victory at Sunderland on Wednesday.

Cesc Fabregas scored the only goal of the game five minutes before half-time, but the Blues had a number of other chances to extend their lead.

And they almost paid for their profligacy, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois needing to make a really good save from Patrick Van Aanholt in stoppage time to guarantee three points.

“When you have the possibility to kill the game, you must kill the game,” Conte said.

“We had this possibility but we didn’t [do it] and at the end, Courtois made a good save. Today we didn’t pay [for missing chances].

“After the first half, I asked them to stay focused. We created many chances to score the second goal but we didn’t.”

Conte was however full of praise for his defence, who kept their eighth clean sheet in 10 matches since a switch to three at the back.

He said: “It’s fantastic because I think during the game we didn’t risk [conceding], only at the end.

“We must continue in this way. It’s important we don’t concede goals and create chances to score.

“I prefer that my players don’t look at the table, only be focused on the next game in three days against Crystal Palace. [It is] a tough game, we must prepare very well.”