Conte wary of Hazard injury setback

ANTONIO CONTE insisted he will not risk Eden Hazard’s fitness as Chelsea prepare for Sunday’s London derby against Arsenal. The Belgium forward, who suffered a broken ankle at the end of last season, took another big step towards full fitness in the 6-0 win over Qarabag, coming on as a 58th-minute substitute to add to the 12 minutes he played against Leicester on Saturday. Hazard is in line for his first start of the new season, but Conte is wary of exposing the 26-year-old to a potential injury setback. ‘I think with Eden, we must have a bit of patience, to try to give the possibility for Eden to recover very well and be totally fit,’ said Conte. ‘This is the right process for him. Don’t forget, in the team there are two players like Pedro and Willian, who are playing very well. ‘We must be pleased to see Eden in the team. Now we must have calm and do the best for the player and for the team. ‘Otherwise we risk bad injury and delaying the situation. That’s not good. This process is good for him.’ Conte says last night’s thrashing of Qarabag was the perfect reintroduction to Champions League football after a year out of Europe’s elite. ‘I think it was a good start, a perfect start, for us to play our first game in the Champions League and win with a good result,’ said the Italian. ‘To score many goals, to finish the game with a clean sheet, I saw a lot of positive things. ‘Now we have to continue, to rest tomorrow and then to start to think about the next game, a strong game, a tough game against Arsenal.’ Last night’s win puts Chelsea top of Group C after Atletico Madrid, Chelsea’s next opponents in a fortnight, drew 1-1 at Roma. Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas told BT Sport: ‘You never know if goal difference will count at the end of the group stage. We are getting back to our best.’