Antonio Conte to continue playing Chelsea youngsters

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte said he was not scared to carry on fielding youngsters in his team after they beat Brentford 4-0 in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.

The Italian started the game with five players aged 23 or younger against their west London rivals at Stamford Bridge and he claimed he would be happy to keep fielding them if they proved their worth to the side.

"Our young players are growing and for me and the club that is very important because this season we do not have the Champions League or the Europa League, so we only have the league and the FA Cup," he said.

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"And the FA Cup is a good opportunity to see the improvement of these young players and I am satisfied with what I saw today. But for sure these young players are very important for me and the cub and if they deserve to play, I am ready to put them in the team.

"I am not scared of the young players, but the only thing that I ask is that they must be ready to play."

One such player was Michy Batshuayi, whose 81st-minute penalty rounded off the scoring against the Bees and Conte praised the Belgian's display.

"To score a goal is always important for a player," he said. "Batshuayi's performance was good, I saw great commitment, he worked very hard for the team and for sure he is improving. And step by step he is increasing his knowledge about our football and philosophy.

"But now it is important to keep working this week and to always show me the right commitment and the will to improve."

Conte also claimed that his players were ready to fight for the chance to win a Premier League and FA Cup double this season.

And with Chelsea currently holding an eight-point lead at the top of the division, Conte remains on course to mark his debut campaign in England with the double.

However, the Blues boss was also quick to point out that there remains a lot of hard work ahead before that target can be reached.

"It is important to keep on working very hard, as only by working can dreams happen," said Conte. "I think for us to stay top of the league is a dream, because if you remember our start to the season. But now we are doing very well. We are ready to fight to stay on top of the league and now we must fight with five teams to keep our position.

"The FA Cup, our target was to go to the next round, it has happened and now it is important to see the draw and I hope to play the next game at home again.

"But it is important to take it game by game in the FA Cup and the league. But for sure, nothing will be easy in the FA Cup or the league."

Next up for Chelsea is a trip to Anfield to take on fourth-placed Liverpool on Tuesday night, and despite the Reds' recent struggles, Conte said he was still expecting a tough fixture on Merseyside.

"It will be a very tough game, we have only two days to prepare for this game," he said.

"To win away against Liverpool is never easy. It is important to remember that in the first part of the season when we played against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, we lost the game, the only game we have lost here.

"It is a really tough and important game, and after this game there will be 15 games to finish the season and if you win, draw or lose this game, it does not change a lot.

"But for sure, for us we want to continue in this way and to keep the same distance as for me, Liverpool is a team that can win the title."

Brentford manager Dean Smith, meanwhile, cut a frustrated figure after the game, claiming his players did not deserve to be on the end of a 4-0 scoreline, especially given their second-half efforts.

"Willian sticks one in the top corner and you think it is going to be a tough day," he said. "Then the clearance comes off [Nathaniel] Chalobah's feet and they break and score to make it 2-0.

"And 2-0 here after 18 minutes is very tough and then I felt subconsciously we dropped a little deep and let them play in front of us and we made it very difficult for ourselves.

"So I said to the players at half-time that I want us to ask them the question, go and get in their faces and get our supporters' bums off their seats and make a game of it. And I felt we did that in the second half.

"I just asked them [at half-time]: 'What do you want to do? Let them have the football all second half, or do you want to stop them having the football?'

"They are a good bunch, honest, hardworking, with quality as well and that is why the scoreline was so disappointing. They probably didn't deserve that.

"But the main difference between the two sides in the end was the quality of their finishing, while their third goal on the break killed the game."