Antonio Conte happy with decision to rest stars in FA Cup after Southampton win

Antonio Conte felt vindicated in his decision to rest Diego Costa and Eden Hazard in the FA Cup after they starred against Southampton.

Costa scored twice and Hazard opened the scoring as Chelsea tightened their grip on the title with a 4-2 win over Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

The win stretched Conte's side lead at the top to seven points.

Conte restored Hazard and Costa to his line-up after starting them on the bench at Wembley on Saturday for the 4-2 semi-final win over Spurs and the Italian feels his changes were justified.

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"My choices were right for the game against Tottenham and the game against Southampton," he told Sky Sports.

"It's not easy to make these strong choices. I have a squad full of great men and good players.

"It's a good win - I'm pleased with the fantastic effort. It wasn't easy after a tough game at Tottenham - Southampton are strong with good personalities, I'm very pleased for players - they deserved it."

With the game at 1-1, fit-again Gary Cahill, who missed the semi-final with illness, struck at a crucial time just before the break, which gave Chelsea a platform to build on in the second half.

When asked if that was the turning point in the game, Conte said: "To score that goal at the end of the first half was important for us but I was confident because I saw a team that wanted to win - at this part of the season it's not easy.

"When I see this type of performance, it makes me confident for the future."

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Chelsea's title rivals Tottenham can cut the gap again back to four points with victory at Crystal Palace on Wednesday - live on Sky Sports.

While Hazard admitted the pressure is on Spurs to respond, Conte isn't worrying about Mauricio Pochettino's men.

"It's important for us to look at ourselves not the others," he added.