Chelsea boss Antonio Conte admits a busy week forced him to start their FA Cup semifinal victory over Tottenham with Eden Hazard and Diego Costa on the bench.

Conte admits he struggles to accept England's scheduling.

"For sure when you arrive in this part of the season, and you know you have to play three tough games and one is a semi-final and a top game, and a top priority, but you know you have to play on Tuesday after only two and a half days a game very important for us and for the league, you have to take strong decisions.

"We play a Southampton team who rest for 10 days and Tottenham have one more day to rest and they play Crystal Palace who have to play tomorrow. You have to take responsibility for your decisions and it is a great responsibility, it is not easy to start the game without two really important players."