Conte: Chelsea players will ignore Mourinho, Matic will ignore me

Antonio Conte thinks that facing a former manager will not be a distraction for Chelsea's players or Manchester United's Nemanja Matic ahead of a fiercly competitive showdown between the clubs on Sunday.

Jose Mourinho is now the manager of the Manchester outfit but led Chelsea to their first league title in 50 years as well as three of their six league titles across two spells with the London club.

But Conte doesn't expect his players to be worried about Mourinho in the away dugout, much as he doesn't expect Matic, who was sold by Chelsea to Man United for £40 million this summer, to be thinking about his time with the Blues.

“I think in this time, you see only opponents. An opponent. I think this is the right way," Conte said at a news conference at Cobham Training Centre. "It will be the same for Matic in the other side. I think he doesn't care.

"The most important is to play for your page, to play for your club, to play for your fans. This is the most important thing now. I don't want to answer this question [about Mourinho] otherwise you are ready to prepare your [Conte wants to be] number one [story about me].

"No, every coach has to put himself in his club and to try to become a really important coach for his club. I think every coach has the time, no, to spend at a club and the most important thing is to try and put all of yourself into the job in this time."

UCJ, UNILORIN.