Antonio Conte: My door is always open at Chelsea - but I never explain technical choices to players

Happy squad: Chelsea lead the league by seven points
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Vaishali Bhardwaj8 April 2017

Antonio Conte has revealed he never justifies his team selection to his Chelsea players, but insisted his door is always open should any of his squad want to question their lack of playing time.

Conte has kept faith in the same group of players since switching to a 3-4-3 formation back in early October, with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Michy Batshuayi and even captain John Terry having to settle for a place on the bench this season.

Another player who has not had much playing time since he returned prematurely from his loan spell at Bournemouth in January is Nathan Ake.

The defender has started just two games for the Blues - the last of which came in the FA Cup win over Wolves in February.

Conte, however, has defended his decision to bring Ake back from Bournemouth early while admitting he does not feel the need to explain his team choices to his players.

"I think that every single player wants to play, and wants to play every week. But I think that this experience is very good for Nathan," Conte said on Friday ahead of Chelsea's game with Bournemouth.

"He's working very well. I'm trying with him to also improve him - to improve his football.

"I think the task of a manager is this, to improve your players. When a player isn't playing he's not happy. He's not happy. But to stay at Chelsea, a really great team, is very important.

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"He's a player from our academy, don't forget. I think it was right to bring him with us this season."

He added: "I don't like to explain my technical choice. If someone wants to ask me something, my door is always open.

"But I never give explanations about my technical choices."

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