Antonio Conte gives his boys three-days off

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Bengaluru, February 7: Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has given his players three days off to recharge and find a way out of their mini crisis.

Chelsea lost their second game in a row last night at Watford in an embarrassing 4-1 defeat and have conceded seven goals in less than a week.

Conte has privately admitted that his squad has overworked recently with games every three days. And due to that hectic schedule he has opted to give them extra time off.

They will not report again until Friday (February 9) to prepare for next Monday’s crucial match at home to Premier League strugglers West Brom.

Chelsea have limped on with a series of injuries to key players with up to eight hamstring problems at one time in his squad but back to back heavy losses to teams like Bournemouth and Watford are hardly understandable.

Left back Marcos Alonso had to be rested from Monday’s game as a precaution to avoid injury. Defender Andreas Christensen missed the trip to Vicarage Road because of a hamstring strain. Chelsea number one Thibaut Courtois is only just back from an ankle injury.

Conte hopes that by giving his players an extended rest they will get valuable time out to refresh themselves for the run in to the season.

The Blues play Barcelona on February 20 in the Champions League last 16 and are also in the fifth round of the FA Cup as well as battling for a top four finish to secure Champions League football for next season.

The thrashing at Vicarage Road yesterday saw Chelsea equal an unwanted record.With Conte clinging to his job, alarm bells were already ringing last week after they were stuffed 3-0 at home to Bournemouth.

Now, there is even more panic as it is the first time in 22 years in which Chelsea have lost back-to-back games by three goals.