Saturday 20 August 2016 21:07, UK
Antonio Conte chose to praise his side's spirit rather than focus on the controversy surrounding Diego Costa following Chelsea's late victory at Watford.
The Italian maintained his 100 percent record as Blues boss as goals from Michy Batshuayi and Costa saw his side come from behind to claim three points at Vicarage Road.
Having already been booked, Costa escaped punishment for a theatrical dive midway through the second half, before going on to hit the winner with three minutes remaining.
But, speaking to Sky Sports, Conte was keen to divert the attention away from the Spaniard and on to Chelsea's second successive victory.
"I think that there is more focus on Costa," he said. "It's not good for him, for Chelsea and for the situation in general.
"It's important for him to understand and think about Chelsea and not about other situations.
"For Diego, for Chelsea, for the fans, for all, it's important to think about the game and to play football and not to insist about this (matter on the) pitch because I don't like to speak about this."
In what was an evenly-matched encounter in Hertfordshire, Chelsea fell behind to Adlene Guedioura's emphatic second-half volley.
With the Hornets in control, it was Conte's utilisation of his substitutes that swung the game in the visitors' favour.
Batshuayi and Cesc Fabregas starred from the bench as Chelsea ground out the win, much to the pleasure of their Italian manager who claimed the result was deserved.
"It's important for me and the team to have the players that start on the bench and come and show the right attitude and patience to change the game," Conte added.
"Batshuayi and Fabregas had a good impact on the game and I'm happy for this. We must continue to work very hard to continue in this way because we don't have another option, only this.
"I am pleased because I saw the right spirit from a team that didn't want to lose, this is very important.
"The second win is important to raise our confidence and to continue to work because we need to work very hard.
"I'm happy because I'm seeing the right attitude and work rate from my players today. This win is very important and we deserved it."
