Antonio Conte concedes he couldn’t have imagined leading Chelsea to NINE-GAME win streak

The Italian admits he believed such a feat would prove beyond him due to the difficulty of the Premier League as he aims for No.10 vs Sunderland

Antonio Conte admits he never could have imagined Chelsea stringing together such a long winning run due to the competitiveness of the Premier League.

The Blues victory over West Brom on Sunday made it nine wins in a row for the title favourites.

One more at Sunderland tonight will equal their 2005/06 record of ten straight league wins under Jose Mourinho, their previous best in one season.

Conte said: “If I am honest, no. No [I couldn’t have imagined it]. Not because I don’t trust in my team. But I know this league, and this league is very tough.

“To win any game, you must all yourself into it. To have nine wins in a row is fantastic. I hope to continue this, but if you ask me if I hoped this, then yes. But I wasn’t sure.”

But Conte played down the significance of making it a perfect ten at the Stadium of Light.

He said: “I don’t like to think about reaching a personal target. I like always to think we are together when we win, or we lose.

“In this case, we’ve won nine games in a row. I hope to continue that run. We all know that it’s not easy to continue to win, but we are working to try and do this.

“I don’t like to think about records or the other situations. It’s important for me, every win, because you can take three points and increase your position in the table.”

Tomorrow’s trip to Sunderland is the first of five games in 22 days for the Blues.

And Conte hopes his players don’t try and squeeze a Christmas party into their busy schedule too and is also trusting them to lay off the booze during the festive period.

He said: “No, I must be honest, I’d prefer they stayed at home and celebrated with the family. Not [with] a great party.

“On the 26th we play the game [against Bournemouth]. We [the club] are preparing to celebrate with our families during the week before Christmas, to stay together with our children, with our families.

“I’m sure I have great professionals in my players. In this case [with alcohol], I don’t think a coach or a manager can say: ‘Do this’ or ‘Don’t do this’.

“I have great professionals and I know they will have the better attitude and behaviours in this situation.”

Meanwhile, Conte tipped defender Cesar Azpiicueta to write his name into Chelsea folklore after signing a new three year-and-a-half-year deal yesterday.

The versatile Spaniard has extended his stay at Stamford Bridge until 2020 and Conte said: “Azpi is a really important player for us.

“In the future, he can stay here for many years and become also a legend for this club.”