LACK OF REST PLANE CRAZY

ANTONIO CONTE insists his players can have no excuses for failing to produce a performance at Liverpool today.

Chelsea head to Anfield for a mouthwatering clash on the back of a testing week. The champions have had just one full day to prepare for their tea-time visit after an exhausting midweek Champions League trip to Azerbaijan.

The Blues didn’t arrive home from Baku until the early hours of Thursday morning and also had a scare as they tried to land.

The plane only managed to touch down safely after the captain aborted his first attempted landing.

Chelsea boss Conte (above) shaved his beard off to celebrate getting back to winning ways against Qarabag. He said: “Yes, it was a problem to land. It was a lot of wind and we tried to land the first time, but it wasn’t possible for this reason.

“Then the captain tried again, and the second time was positive. In these circumstances, you feel a bit afraid, yes, but the captain was very good.

“To get to your house at 6am in the morning does not make it simple to rest and recover. We have had only one day to prepare for a big game – this is not right, I must be honest.

“This week was a strange one, but we must be focused on a big game. We want to try to play well and have a good result.

“The players must be ready to play a big game. I don’t like to find an alibi, or excuses, and it is the same for my players. We must be ready.”

Liverpool’s Champions League away fixture this week was much closer to home, at Sevilla, and 24 hours earlier than Chelsea’s.

Despite saying there could be no excuses, Conte repeated his attack on the Premier League fixture schedulers, adding: “This is not the first time (we’ve had a problem with the schedule).

“In only a month and a half, we’ve had the same situation twice. First against Manchester City and now against Liverpool.

“They have to try to give the same possibility to both teams to recover.

“Not to create problems for only one team.”