Chelsea boss Antonio Conte insists last season was much tougher.

Conte doesn't feel that the current issues are the most difficult he's faced since arriving in west London.

He said: "I had a really tough period last season, in many circumstances tougher than now.

"It was tougher at the start because to arrive in a new country, to adapt yourself with a new type of football, new language, new habit it wasn't easy and I found a situation with a lot of troubles.

"Last season I tried to solve these problems. Don't forget, when we won, not one person had predicted this at the start of the season, for our squad after our transfer window.

"We did a really fantastic job, but now we have to try to continue in this way, continue to work and continue to try and solve the problems and create something important for the club.

"It is not easy. Some people can think to win is easy but it is not. You try to ask the winners if it is easy to win, it is a path and you have to follow this path and there is a lot of sacrifice a lot of work, patience, a lot of things."