in the Premier League has caught him by surprise.
A hard-fought 1-0 victory over West Brom at the
weekend made it nine top-flight wins in a row – a
run that has given them a three-point lead at the
top of the table.
And although Conte believes his side were too
quickly written off in the early part of the season,
he concedes that their exceptional recent displays
have come as a shock.
Asked if he expected Chelsea to have maintained
such a strong run, he replied: "If I must be honest,
no. Not because I don't trust in my team, but
because I know this league, it's very tough.
"To have nine wins in a row is fantastic, I hope to
continue this, but if you ask me if I hoped for this,
then yes. But I didn't expect it.
"The opinion changes very quickly and I don't like
this. You must have balance when you judge the
situation. Four, five months ago, not one person
made Chelsea favourites to fight for the title or a
place in the Champions League.
"We are working to change the situation, but we're
the same as we were at the start of the season, the
same players, the same manager. But I'm pleased
our work is starting to pay off."
Conte warned his players not to allow their focus to
drop ahead of Wednesday's meeting with bottom
club Sunderland, however.
"We all know that Sunderland are at the bottom of
the table, but if you look at the last five games they
are fifth in the table," he said, pointing to
Sunderland's run of three wins in their last five.
"It's important to pay attention, to be focused,
concentrated from the start of the game until the
end.
"I think we're ready to face a lot of games in a few
days. We've worked very hard to face this
Christmas period and now it's important to start it
in the right way."
Monday saw Cristiano Ronaldo win the Ballon d'Or
for the fourth time in his career, with Barcelona's
Lionel Messi in second place.
Conte believes the Real Madrid star was a worthy
winner, but hopes that a Chelsea player can lift the
trophy in the coming seasons.
"I think he deserved this," he said. "Cristiano and
Messi are dividing these awards. For sure, in the
future it will be another player to replace these two
great champions.
"I hope so. We have fantastic players and I hope
this can happen in the future."
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