Football
Liam Twomey, Chelsea correspondent 6y

Conte questions size of Chelsea squad with Morata set to return vs. Roma

LONDON -- Antonio Conte insisted that he will not be taking a risk if he decides to start Alvaro Morata against Roma on Wednesday, but warned that Chelsea's small squad has left his players more vulnerable to further injuries as they navigate through a crowded October fixture schedule.

Morata sat out Chelsea's 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday, but the striker trained with the first-team squad at Cobham from Sunday to Tuesday as he steps up his recovery from a hamstring injury suffered against Manchester City prior to the international break.

N'Golo Kante could miss the rest of October with a hamstring problem of his own picked up on France duty, while a report in the Telegraph on Monday suggested that Victor Moses could also be sidelined for a month after injuring his hamstring in the Palace defeat.

Conte said he left Morata out of his squad for the trip to Selhurst Park to avoid re-injuring him, and added that the Spain international is now "in contention" for a starting spot.

"Honestly, I could have taken a risk on Saturday and forced him to play against Crystal Palace but I'm not so stupid," he said. "The situation is very difficult. You have to make the best decision and, for sure, tomorrow I'm not taking a risk if I decide Morata can play. For sure."

Asked why Chelsea are suffering so many muscular injuries, he added: "The problem is we are playing always the same players. Also we have players in our team who are not used to playing three games in a week. Kante, it's the first time [in his career]. For Moses, the first time. For Morata, it's the first time to play regularly for his team. For [Marcos] Alonso it's the same.

"When you have a lot of games, you need to rotate players. If this is not possible, I have to take risks. Then, for example, against Manchester City... Morata was injured after 20 minutes. But if I hadn't put Morata in the starting XI, you'd have told me I'm crazy. Sometimes the players need to rest instead."

The visit of Roma reunites Conte with several players he enjoyed success with as Italy coach. Club captain Daniele De Rossi described his time working under the former Juventus boss as "beautiful," and Conte was generous with his praise in response.

"I've got great appreciation of him, and I'm proud to have coached him and [Alessandro] Florenzi and [Stephan] El Shaarawy," Conte added. "I still get goosebumps from the great journey we had in the national team.

"De Rossi, like [Francesco] Totti, is an amazing player who has given his career to AS Roma. A great man and a great player. It will be difficult for me to see them as opponents, but I'll always thank them for the incredible journey we had in the Euros."

Wednesday's match also brings Conte face to face with Radja Nainggolan, the midfielder he pushed Chelsea to sign in his first summer as coach. "It's not right to speak about him [now]," he said. "He's a really good player. For me, one of the best midfielders. But he's an opponent."

Conte has been linked with the Roma job on several occasions in the past and said he has great respect for them.

"Roma are a top team, so I'm extremely proud to see my name linked with them: a great team, great players, a great city," he said. "They had two major [coaching] choices since [Rudi] Garcia, and they've made two excellent choices in [Luciano] Spalletti and then [Eusebio] Di Francesco."

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