Chelsea boss Antonio Conte concedes a top four finish is now unlikely.

Chelsea meet Southampton on Saturday with just three Premier League victories in 2018.

"It's difficult. For sure, it's difficult," Conte said. "We know this. At the same time, we have to try and put all of ourselves to get points and then to see what happens at the end of the season.

"It's not simple. It will be very difficult to reduce this gap and take a place in the Champions League, but we must try to do this until the end of the season.'

Asked if the FA Cup was now more significant in the league, with this a dress rehearsal for Chelsea's semi final, Conte said: "We have to go game by game. We have to go step by step.

"Now the most important game for us is Saturday's game against Southampton. We want to improve our (place in the) table, and for this reason we must go game by game."