Antonio Conte insists he is not worried about the threat of being sacked as Chelsea head coach but admits having trouble sleeping due to “difficult situations”.
Chelsea are becoming increasingly frustrated with Conte appearing to publically criticise their transfer policy, Sky Sports News understands.
However, Conte backtracked on previous comments on Friday, saying Chelsea’s strategy is “right” and he will be happy even if the club do not make any more signings in January.
When asked about tensions at Stamford Bridge, Conte was keen to point out that the pressures at Chelsea – who have had 10 permanent managers in the last 14 years – are not unique to him.
“If you look at the steps you can see that in 14 years, 10 managers have been sacked at this club,” Conte said.
“At the same time when you are sure about your work, I am very relaxed. I don’t get these type of worries.”
Chelsea, who will be without injured Alvaro Morata for Sunday’s visit of Newcastle, remain in the hunt for a striker in the January window and Conte admits he is having sleepless nights over selection issues.
“It is not simple but you know that I live for this job with great passion and great love,” he said.
“For this reason, sometimes I do not sleep when you have to deal with difficult situations.
“I try to do the best for the team, for the players and for the fans.
“To play every three days, for us, is not simple. We have to hope to have all our players available.”
Despite returning to winning ways in the league last weekend with a 4-0 victory over Brighton, Chelsea were knocked out of the Carabao Cup after defeat to Arsenal in the semi-final, second leg on Wednesday and Conte revealed he often stays up late after losing.
He added: “When I can’t sleep, I usually continue to work with a computer and also because I don’t want to cause problems with my wife.
“I go in another room. I go to the living and start to work for the game to try to find a new solution.
“It is important to watch the game many times and to understand positive and negative things, especially when you lose.”
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