Conte hits back after Wenger’s loan jibe

ANTONIO CONTE has defended Chelsea’s loan policy after Arsene Wenger insisted he has no sympathy with the Italian over his threadbare squad. Conte’s lack of first-team options were compounded yesterday after he confirmed Pedro will miss today’s opener against Burnley with an ankle injury. Having lost a host of first-team players over the summer, including Nemanja Matic, John Terry, Nathan Ake and Nathaniel Chalobah and with over 20 other contracted players out on loan, Conte’s squad is lacking depth going into the new campaign. When asked about the issue on Wednesday, Arsenal boss Wenger said he had no sympathy with Conte’s shortage of players given the number Chelsea have loaned out. But Conte (below) hit back at the Frenchman yesterday, saying: ‘I am not looking for sympathy from any coaches for this situation. If the club decided to send on loan a player for development it is because this player is not ready to play for Chelsea.’ Conte has refused to guarantee first-team action to any of the young players who have stayed at Chelsea this season. ‘I am used to pressure,’ he said. ‘For the young players, it’s difficult because they are not used to it. They can pay for the pressure.’ But the Italian admits Chelsea will have no excuses if their title defence gets off to a poor start. ‘I don’t want to find any excuse for me, for my staff or for my players,’ he said. ‘It’s not important who is injured.’ Meanwhile, Sportsmail understands Diego Costa has opened a legal case against Chelsea over his pending exit from the club. Last week the striker’s legal representative Ricardo Cardoso threatened Chelsea with a lawsuit regarding the club’s treatment of the Spain striker, particularly their refusal to sanction his return to Atletico Madrid. Costa, who is not training at the club’s Cobham HQ, has accused Conte of informing him that he was no longer wanted via a text message this summer. Conte and Chelsea are adamant Costa was aware of the situation in January.