Conte has ‘many doubts’ about selection for Barcelona clash

Olivier Giroud said he was relieved to score his first goal since joining Chelsea in the fifth-round FA Cup victory over Hull City.

It took just two minutes for Chelsea to take the lead, with Willian curling the ball past David Marshall into the top left-hand corner after Olivier Giroud won the ball in midfield.

Despite nearly every report over the last month or so stating otherwise, Antonio Conte could actually still be the manager of Chelsea, next season.

It gave the rest of the team the confidence to settle into the game because it was all upwards for Chelsea after the first goal. It was great for us.

We have already reached the stage where no one at Chelsea is surprised by Ampadu, though his achievement in earning Conte’s trust is all the more remarkable when you consider that he arrived at a club notorious for its glass ceiling as an outsider to the most talent-stacked academy in the country. “But in the next two weeks we have to play massive games and we must be strong – Barcelona, United and City”. Our start was impressive.

“We started the game with great concentration and determination”.

“It’s been a while since I played regularly and that’s why I needed to move”. ‘Before an important game, against Barcelona, I go to my house with many doubts in my mind, [about] which is the best starting XI to start the game. I have different options. “We’re very pleased with these two last games so let’s carry on”. It won’t be easy, for sure, but we must have the right confidence and then we’ll see what happens. Yes, they took their foot off the gas, but we were much better in the second half and my players deserve credit for that.

While Hull manager Nigel Adkins had little say in the squad he inherited from Leonid Slutsky, the former Southampton manager is suffering from the Russian’s close relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. You’d be mistaken for thinking Willian was playing tricks on them all night. “Honestly, we expected a hard game, but the game became easy because of us”. Within minutes Stewart had again been outmuscled by Giroud and, with Dawson diving in desperately, Willian wriggled free to curl away a fine shot which kissed the far post and flew in. “But now, we must be confident”, added the Italian. We should have scored some goals.

But Hull’s first-half display was beyond awful as individual mistakes abounded and their defence was opened up at will. That looks a good partnership. Pedro hit the other after a wonderful first half pass from Cesc Fabregas. The left-back along with Bakayoko had missed the Hull game.