Antonio Conte is satisfied his Chelsea side have rediscovered the hunger that was missing in their embarrassing Champions League defeat to Roma last month.
The defending Premier League champions cruised to a 4-0 win at West Brom on Saturday and that followed a 1-0 win over title rivals Manchester United prior to the international fortnight.
It marked a stark contrast from the defensive shambles that saw them lose 3-0 in the Stadio Olimpico back on October 31 – one of the low points of Conte’s reign.
Antonio Conte celebrates Chelsea’s 4-0 win at West Brom in customary fashion
Eden Hazard (left) scored twice and Alvaro Morata was also on target in the comfortable win
The 4-0 win at The Hawthorns keeps the defending champions third in the Premier League
But as Conte turns his attention to Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag, he is confident Chelsea are back on track.
He said: ‘These players and this team have always shown great desire, great will to fight in every game.
‘Against Roma, together we did not show this. Me first. I always put myself before the players, to take responsibility.
‘For me, we did not deserve to finish the first-half 2-0 down [against Roma], but the second-half was negative because we did not show the desire to change the result, to try to draw, to try to win.
‘But I think in every season there are games [like that]. We had a lot of problems [earlier in the season] and we are trying to change something in the tactical aspect, to find different solutions.
‘When you concede so many goals it means you have to find a new balance and solidity. I hope to continue to improve.’
Hazard skips past West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster to score the first of his two goals
Marcos Alonso rounded off a comfortable afternoon’s work against the struggling Baggies
Chelsea encountered no such problems against the struggling Baggies at The Hawthorns as two goals from Eden Hazard, plus strikes from Alvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso sealed an easy win.
Conte continued to insist that his decision to drop David Luiz and play Andreas Christensen in central defence is purely tactical, amid suggestions the pair have fallen out.
He added: ‘Every game I have to try to make the best decision for the team, and if I am taking this decision it means Christensen is deserving to play.
‘I think Christensen is playing very well but we have to play a lot of games and we have to play every three days.
‘We need all the players and to have different solutions.’
After their trip to Baku, Chelsea travel to Liverpool in the Premier League next Saturday.
David Luiz spent the afternoon on the bench as Conte kept him out of the side once again
Andreas Christensen looked solid once again at the heart of defence in the absence of Luiz