Moses is a great surprise —Conte

CHELSEA manager, Antonio Conte, says though he has high regards for Victor Moses as a player, he is surprised the way the Nigerian has adapted to his coaching philosophy.

Chelsea lost only once in five consecutive games and that is because Conte rested Moses in an FA Cup fifth round game against West Ham at the Olympic stadium.

Moses has started in the past four league games and not only has Chelsea won all, the Blues are yet to concede a goal in a 3-5-3 formation.

“I think Moses is a great surprise in this aspect because we know him as a winger, but I think he’s playing in a fantastic way,” Conte told Daily Mail after Moses shone once again in their victory against Southampton, overshadowed only by the resurgence of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, who both scored.

“I think that this role is very important in this system,” Conte added. “You must have good stamina and quality to play as a wing-back. I ask my wing-backs to do offensive and defensive duties.”

Moses is rapid, has seemingly endless reserves of stamina and is actually not bad at defending despite his relative inexperience. His ability to turn defending into a blistering attack by dribbling with the ball was evident several times against Southampton.

“I have not played there before,” Moses said on Sunday night. “I have just got to listen to what the manager asks me to do in that position, and the way he wants me to do it.

“Every game we play I just want to keep on improving. The more games you play, the more experience you get in that position. I’m really relishing it at the moment and enjoying it.

“We want to make sure we don’t get caught sleeping in a game. Every day in training the manager is on top of us to make sure we are solid at the back. It’s looking good for us at the moment, but we have to keep our feet firmly on the floor.”